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FEELING SICK? GOT THE VIRUS?

Arrest of Jim Bakker in late 1980’s.
Underwriters will need to watch for merchants promoting phony cures for COVID-19. As if the sale of nutraceuticals was not already a category to be evaluated very closely prior to boarding, the current health crisis has brought some of the usual suspects out of the woodwork. Jim Bakker (The Jim Bakker Show) and his Morningside Church Productions has been sued by the Missouri Attorney General for misrepresentation of Silver Solution as a cure for the coronavirus and the NY AG has issued a cease and desist order as well. Bakker has long been known for hawking fringe products in his role as “televangelist,” including materials to prepare for the ” Apocalypse.” Clearly his 5 year prison sentence resulting from his PTL Network scam did not give him time to take a closer look at what Christianity was really all about. Since the End of Times has been delayed, Bakker is now promising a product that will prevent or cure COVID-19. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to at least seven purveyors of ” unapproved products that may violate federal law by making deceptive or scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19). The warning letters are the first issued by the agencies alleging unapproved and/or unsupported claims that products can treat or prevent coronavirus. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/03/ftc-fda-send-warning-letters-seven-companies-about-unsupported?utm_source=slider
Watch out of the other 6, and others as well.

Payment Processor Banned

$1.7 Million Judgment Ordered Previously Thomas Wells and his payment processing company, Priority Payout Corp., have agreed to settle FTC charges that they repeatedly violated a 2009 court order issued against them. The settlement permanently bans Wells and Priority Payout Corp. from engaging in, and assisting others with, payment processing, and includes a $1.8 millionRead More

WORLDWIDE EXECUTIVE JOB SEARCH SOLUTIONS, LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION   FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION,   Plaintiff, v. WORLDWIDE EXECUTIVE JOB SEARCH SOLUTIONS, LLC, a limited liability company, also d/b/a WWEJSS, Seven Figure Careers, 7FigRecruiters, 7FC, Finnburg Switzer, ResumeterPro, Creating Job Opportunity, Confidential Jobs Only, CJOnly, and CJO Private Equity,   PRIVATEEQUITYHEADHUNTERS.COM, LLC, a limited liabilityRead More

Seven Figure Career Awaits You!

Defendants use social media platforms like LinkedIn to identify consumers with marketing, business, or management experience. In truth and in fact, in almost all instances, consumers do not obtain a high-paying executive or management job because there is no potential job, the job interview is a charade, and Defendants Craig Chrest and his miriad dbasRead More

CORPORATE OFFENDERS

Who went to jail? Rank Parent Name Penalty Total Dollars Number of Records 1 Bank of America $58,406,055,098 119 2 JPMorgan Chase $29,715,750,704 99 3 BP $26,999,493,351 219 4 Volkswagen $23,312,734,121 38 5 Citigroup $17,267,715,789 68 6 Wells Fargo $14,779,993,515 93 7 Deutsche Bank $12,527,268,086 32 8 Royal Bank of Scotland $12,429,670,000 16 9 GoldmanRead More

Underwriters and ROSCA

That’s “Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act” in case you forgot. 15 U.S.C Section 8401-8405. GOPALKRISHNA PAI, of Puerto Rico, opened numerous Wyoming corporations (you do know about Wyoming corporations, don’t you?) including at least one hundred companies owned and controlled by himself and operated as a common enterprise while engaging in the deceptive acts andRead More

The Top Frauds of 2018

Which Ones Affect Underwriters? We might well ask “Which Ones Don’t?” The FTC fraud complaint site amassed 1.4 million complaints in 2018 totaling one and a half billion dollars, a 38% increase over 2017, in consumer losses. Everything from debt collection, imposter scams, identity theft, work at home, credit card fraud, to many more esotericRead More

Stay Tuned For Criminal Case Sentencing

Defendants Used Companies to Cause More Than $7 Million in Unauthorized Charges to Thousands of Consumers. Credit card processors, in turn, paid millions of dollars in refunds for fraudulent charges associated with the defendants’ companies between 2013 and 2017 in attempts to refund affected consumers. JAMES BECKISH and JOSEPH ANTHONY DEMARIA pled guilty to oneRead More

OPERATION CHOKEPOINT IS STILL AROUND

FTC Testifies Before House Committees Regarding Ongoing Focus on Payment Processors Article By:Sarah T. Reise in the National Law Review On July 26, 2018, the FTC testified before two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the FTC’s continued focus on payment processors. Andrew Smith, the Director of the FTC’sRead More

PEOPLE WE LOVE TO HATE

This case involves billions of robocalls dialed using software and servers provided by Defendant James “Jamie” Christiano and his companies: Defendants NetDot Solutions, Inc. and TeraMESH Networks, Inc. At least one billon of those robocalls were programmed to transfer to a call center run by the other set of defendants in this case, Defendant AndrewRead More