Court Orders Three Individuals to Stop Illegal
The FTC's Complaint: According to the FTC's complaint, filed in September 2005, since at least 2004, the defendants used outbound telemarketing to contact consumers in the United States, falsely offering major credit cards, such as MasterCard and Visa, to people who agreed to have the defendants electronically debit their bank accounts for an advance fee of $249. The defendants typically claimed that the credit cards would have a $2,000 credit limit, zero percent interest, and no annual fees, and often targeted their offers at consumers with poor credit histories. Consumers who provided their bank account information did not receive a major credit card, but instead were sent an application for either a "stored value card" or "cash card" that had no line of credit associated with it and could be used only if the consumer first loaded funds onto the card. The complaint also alleged that the defendants violated the law by calling consumers on the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry.
The complaint named the following entities as defendants, both individually and as corporate officers: Sean Somma aka Sean Soma, individually and as an officer of corporate defendants Centurion Financial Benefits LLC and 1629936 Ontario Ltd, also dba Spectra Financial Benefits; Antonio Marchese aka Tony Marchese, individually and as an officer of corporate defendant 1644738 Ontario Ltd., also dba Sureway Beneficial, Simple Choice Benefits, and Oxford Financial Benefits; Tony Andreopoulos, individually and as an officer of corporate defendants American Getaway Vacations Inc., Credence Travel Processing Inc., and Topstar Media Inc., also dba Integra Financial Benefits; and Dennis Andreopoulos, individually and as an officer of corporate defendants American Getaway Vacations Inc. and Topstar Media Inc., also dba Integra Financial Benefits.
The complaint also charged the following corporations: Centurion Financial Benefits LLC; 1629936 Ontario Ltd., also dba Centurion Financial Benefits; 1644738 Ontario Ltd, dba Integra Financial Benefits; American Getaway Vacations Inc., also dba Integra Financial Benefits; Credence Travel Processing Inc., dba Integra Financial Benefits; and Topstar Media Inc., also dba Integra Financial Benefits. The FTC filed an amended complaint in December 2006, adding several corporate and individual defendants. Litigation continues against all defendants other than Somma, Cholette, Marchese, and Dennis Andreopoulos, whom the Commission voluntarily dismissed as a defendant.
The Stipulated Final Orders: The court orders announced today against defendants Soma, Cholette, and Marchese include strong injunctive relief that will help ensure that they do not engage in similar illegal conduct in the future. Specifically, the orders prohibit the defendants from making misrepresentations regarding credit cards or any other product, program, or service offered to consumers. They prohibit the defendants from violating the Do Not Call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and from selling, leasing, or transferring the information in their customer lists to anyone. In addition, the orders subject them to strict monitoring and compliance requirements.
Finally, the orders contain an avalanche clause that would require the defendants to pay more than $9.8 million, the total amount of consumer injury caused by the scam, if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition. The orders also require them to cooperate with the FTC in its ongoing litigation against the remaining Centurion defendants.