Mar 6, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware of the following Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit filing:
PFVT Motors, LLC d/b/a Peoria Ford
Class action lawsuit filed on March 5, 2020 in United States District Court for the District of Arizona against PFVT Motors, LLC, d/b/a Peoria Ford. Allegedly, PFVT Motors, LLC, d/b/a Peoria Ford, “engages in aggressive unsolicited marketing, harming thousands of consumers in the process.”
The class action complaint alleges that “[o]ver the past three years, [PFVT Motors, LLC, d/b/a Peoria Ford] caused numerous marketing solicitation calls to Plaintiff’s cellular telephone.” Further, the complaint alleges that the Plaintiff “told Defendant to stop calling her numerous times but [PFVT Motors, LLC, d/b/a Peoria Ford] continued to call [Plaintiff] repeatedly.”
Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?
If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.
Mar 5, 2020 | Shareholder & Investor Protection
Three California-Based, Internal Woodbridge Sales Agents That Sold and Assisted in Selling Approximately $444 Million in Woodbridge Securities to Retail Investors Charged For Illegally Selling Securities in Unregistered Transactions
On March 5, 2020, the SEC announced charges against Brook Church-Koegel (“Church-Koegel”), David H. Goldman (“Goldman”), and Nicole J. Walker (“Walker”), three California-based internal sales agents for Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, for illegally selling Woodbridge securities in unregistered transactions to retail investors in numerous states while acting as unregistered brokers.
According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately June 2014 to December 2017, Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker sold and assisted others in selling approximately $444 million in Woodbridge securities in unregistered transactions to thousands of predominantly elderly investors.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker were among Woodbridge’s largest revenue-producing internal sales agents, and Church-Koegel and Goldman eventually became “team leaders,” who assisted sales agents throughout the United States. Allegedly, the defendants reaped significant transaction-based compensation from these unlawful sales, with Church-Koegel and Goldman receiving more than $1 million each, and Walker receiving more than $750,000.
The SEC’s complaint charges Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker with violating the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against each of them.
SEC’s “Complaint For Injunctive And Other Relief” (SEC v. Brook Church-Koegel, David H. Goldman, and Nicole J. Walker)
According to the SEC’s complaint:
1. From at least June 2014 through December 2017, Brook Church-Koegel, David H. Goldman, and Nicole J. Walker (collectively, the “Defendants”) were among the top revenueproducing internal sales persons for Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, d/b/a Woodbridge Wealth (“Woodbridge”). Woodbridge and its then owner and President, Robert H. Shapiro, operated Woodbridge as a massive Ponzi scheme, which, from July 2012 through December 2017, raised at least $1.22 billion from more than 8,400 unsuspecting investors nationwide through fraudulent unregistered securities offerings.
2. In their internal sales agent positions, the Defendants personally solicited and sold Woodbridge securities in unregistered transactions to investors, many of whom were elderly retirees who invested their retirement savings as a result of the Defendants’ sales and marketing tactics. Church-Koegel and Goldman also served as “team leaders,” and in that role, were responsible for coordinating and assisting the wide-ranging sales efforts of many internal sales agents who sold Woodbridge securities. Additionally, each of the Defendants coordinated and assisted external sales agents in their efforts to sell Woodbridge’s securities, including regularly speaking with them over the telephone and sometimes joining them in calls with investors to answer questions about Woodbridge’s securities.
3. The Defendants pitched Woodbridge’s securities to the general public via email, telephone, at in-person meetings, and using other instruments of interstate commerce. The Defendants provided investors with Woodbridge’s sales and marketing materials, touting Woodbridge’s securities as “safer” and “conservative.” The Ponzi scheme collapsed on December 4, 2017, when Shapiro caused Woodbridge and its many related companies to file for bankruptcy. Once Woodbridge filed for bankruptcy, investors stopped receiving their monthly interest payments and have not received a return of their investment principal.
4. The Defendants, acting as unregistered brokers, together were responsible for raising through their own efforts and the efforts of external sales agents that they assisted, approximately $444 million between June 2014 and December 2017, from thousands of investors in more than 40 states, from the offer and sale of Woodbridge’s securities in unregistered transactions. For their efforts during this time period, together, Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker received at least $2.75 million in transaction-based compensation, in addition to their salaries. At all relevant times, the Defendants held no securities licenses, were not registered with the Commission, and were not associated with registered broker-dealers. Further, Woodbridge’s securities were not registered with the Commission, nor did they qualify for an exemption from registration. The Defendants thus were not permitted to sell Woodbridge’s securities.
Source: SEC.gov
Mar 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware of the following Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit filing:
1-800 Construction, Inc.
Class action lawsuit filed on March 3, 2020 in United States District Court, Eastern District of California, against 1-800 Construction, Inc. and other defendants, as of yet unknown, for, allegedly, “negligently, knowingly, and/or willfully contacting Plaintiff on Plaintiff’s cellular telephone in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act . . . and related regulations, specifically the National Do-Not-Call provisions, thereby invading Plaintiff’s privacy.”
According to the complaint, 1-800 Construction “contacted Plaintiff on Plaintiff’s cellular telephone . . . in an attempt to solicit Plaintiff to purchase Defendant’s services.” 1-800 Construction, allegedly, “did not possess Plaintiff’s ‘prior express consent’ to receive calls using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice on [Plaintiff’s] cellular telephone.”
Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?
If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.
Mar 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware of the following Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit:
Dominion Enterprises, Inc.
Class action lawsuit filed on March 4, 2020 in United States District Court, District of Arizona, against Dominion Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Homes.com, “to stop Homes.com from violating the [TCPA] by sending unsolicited autodialed text messages to consumers.”
According to the complaint, “Homes.com is a real estate website that[,]among other things[,] generates leads for listings for real estate agents.” The complaint alleges that the Plaintiff “never provided her consent to Homes.com to send [Plaintiff] text messages using an automatic telephone dialing system or to otherwise contact [Plaintiff].”
The complaint contained the following example of an unsolicited text message the Plaintiff allegedly received on her cellular telephone without her consent from Homes.com, (757) 600-0580:
Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?
If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.
Mar 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Affiliate Marketers Who Lured Consumers Into A Business Coaching and Investment Scheme Will Surrender Millions of Dollars in Assets to Settle FTC Charges
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that on March 5, 2020, the FTC announced that according to complaints filed by the FTC, a group of affiliate marketer defendants made millions of dollars in commissions by enticing thousands of consumers to pay as much as $60,000 for My Online Business Education (“MOBE”) “mentoring” services, using false claims and misleading testimonials about how much money they could make. The defendants advertised on social media, YouTube, online news sites, and at live events, specifically targeting teenagers, students, and older consumers.
The named defendants in the FTC’s case against the affiliate marketers are Michael Giannulis (“Giannulis”) and Michael Williams (“Williams”), along with several corporate entities they control, as well as Stephen Bransfield (“Bransfield”), Gar Leong Chow (“Chow”), and Scott Zuckman (“Zuckman”) and their companies.
Ultimately, according to the FTC, most people who bought into the MOBE program were unable to recoup their costs, and many experienced crippling losses or mounting debts. The FTC sued MOBE and its main operators in 2018, and its founder, Matthew Lloyd McPhee, recently settled the FTC charges against him.
The defendants, as part of their efforts to recruit people to MOBE, created their own branded “programs” and “systems” with names like Dot-Com Lifestyle, Entrepreneurs Club, and Rookie Profit System.
The FTC also alleged that one set of defendants, led by Giannulis and Williams, started another deceptive coaching scheme, called “My Ecom Club,” after MOBE was shut down. According to the FTC’s complaint, Giannulis and Williams also solicited friends and family members to stand as straw owners and signers for shell companies they used to open merchant accounts, a practice known as credit card laundering.
The settlement orders permanently ban each of the defendants from selling or marketing any business coaching program or money-making method, as defined in the orders.
The order against Chow requires the judgment amount of $3,350,000 to be paid in full to the FTC for potential consumer redress.
The order against Giannulis, Williams, and their companies imposes a monetary judgment of $31.6 million, which will be suspended once defendants pay $760,000 and turn over personal items obtained from their participation in MOBE.
The order against Bransfield and his companies imposes a $4.7 million judgment that is suspended due to inability to pay. Bransfield filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2019.
The order against Zuckman includes a judgment of $1.8 million and requires Zuckman to pay $406,150 to the FTC, after which the remainder of the judgment will be suspended due to inability to pay.
In the case of each judgment that is suspended, the full judgment will become due immediately if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
Source: FTC.gov
