Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Financial scammers banned from collecting/disclosing consumer information, (Mar 9, 2016)

By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.

At the request of the FTC, a federal district court has banned Ideal Financial Solutions, Inc., its subsidiaries, and seven individuals from collecting or disclosing consumer information, the Commission announced today. The defendants had previously been found guilty by the court of unfair billing practices in violation of Sec. 5 of the FTC Act (FTC v. Ideal Financial Solutions, Inc., File No. 1123211, Dkt. 2:13-cv-00143-JAD-GWF).

According to a lawsuit filed by the FTC in 2013, the defendants operated a massive scam that took money from consumers’ bank without their authorization. The defendants used the information that they purchased from data brokers and payday loan websites, which included social security and bank account numbers, to defraud consumers. The FTC, in an effort to stop the problem, sued several data brokers who sold information to Ideal Financial, including Sitesearch Corp. (also known as LeapLab), Gen X Marketing Group LLC, and Sequoia Once, LLC.

A judgment of $43,083,720 was imposed against Ideal Financial Solutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Steven Sunyich, Christopher Sunyich, Michael Sunyich, and Melissa Sunyich Gardner. A judgment of $36,575,542 was imposed against Jared Mosher. In addition, the court:

• banned the ringleaders, Jared Mosher, Steven Sunyich, and Christopher Sunyich from marketing, selling, and handling any credit-related products or services; and

• banned all of the defendants from collecting or disclosing consumer account numbers, except for transactions expressly authorized by the consumer.

In June 2014, Kent Brown and Shawn Sunyich entered into settlements which banned them from placing unauthorized charges on consumer financial accounts and disclosing consumer financial information without the consumer’s express consent. A suspended $25 million judgment was imposed against both Brown and Sunyich. Brown was also required to liquidate his assets and turn them over to the FTC.

The final judgment against the remaining defendants was entered by the U.S. District Court for Nevada on February 23, 2016.

Companies: Ideal Financial Solutions, Inc.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews