Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC settles first crowdfunding deception case, (Jun 11, 2015)

A project creator who raised money from consumers to produce a board game through a Kickstarter campaign settled FTC charges that he deceived consumers into donating to his project.

Erik Chevalier, also doing business as The Forking Path Co., started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce a board game called The Doom That Came to Atlantic City that had been created by two prominent board game artists. The website stated that if Chevalier raised $35,000, backers would get certain rewards, such as a copy of the game or specially designed pewter game figurines. He raised more than $122,000, but canceled the project.

Despite promises to provide the rewards and/or refunds to his backers, Chevalier allegedly spent most of the money on unrelated personal expenses such as rent, moving himself to Oregon, personal equipment, and licenses for a different project.

Under the settlement order, Chevalier is prohibited from making misrepresentations about any crowdfunding campaign and from failing to honor stated refund policies. He is also barred from disclosing or benefiting from customers’ personal information, and failing to dispose of such information properly.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews