The Federal Trade Commission has obtained a $106 million judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Texas TX, involving an advance-fee credit card telemarketing scheme.
Officers of the Assail Telemarketing Network who allegedly engaged in more than $100 million in deceptive telemarketing sales were banned from telemarketing for life as part of the settlement reached with the FTC.
These settlements were reached shortly after the court entered a $106 million judgment against Assail Inc. and its president Kyle Kimoto. A total of 13 individuals or entities were banned from doing any kind of telemarketing activity.
Those banned from engaging in telemarketing from Assail Inc. are Joel Best, vice president; Michael Henriksen, CFO and Clifford Dunn, general manager. In addition, Lawrence Silverman with Lamar Holdings Inc. was also banned from telemarketing for his role in setting up a corporate structure for Assail, which included outsourcing fulfillment and customer service operations.
According to the FTC, telemarketers in the U.S., Canada, India and the Caribbean contacted U.S. consumers with poor credit records to offer a guaranteed MasterCard credit card for an advance fee, but they never received any credit card. The promotions used names such as Advantage Capital, Capital First and Premier One.
The settlements with Assail’s officers Dunn, Best and Henriksen included a $30 million suspended judgment, which would be payable in full if the court finds they made any material misrepresentations on sworn financial statements submitted to the FTC.
The settlement with Silverman who was already on probation in connection with a telemarketing fraud conviction in Florida includes a $50 million suspended judgment under similar court stipulations.
All four men were also banned from selling customer lists.
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