Other Federal Enforcement

December 7, 2020

DISH Network LLC has agreed to pay a record-breaking $126 million in civil penalties for violating the FTC’s Telemarking Sales Rule, as well as a combined $84 million to the States of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  In 2017, a federal district court found DISH liable for more than 66 million unlawful telemarketing calls made directly by the company or by retailers marketing their products and services.  The total settlement amount, $210 million, represents the largest civil penalty ever obtained for do-not-call violations.  DOJ; CA AG; NC AG

November 27, 2020

Hyundai Motor America, Inc. and Kia Motors America, Inc. have entered into agreements with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration resolving claims that they were untimely in recalling over 1.6 million vehicles equipped with "Theta II" engines and provided inaccurate information to NHTSA regarding those recalls.  The companies are subject to combined penalties totaling $210 million, $140 million for Hyundai and $70 million for Kia.  NHTSA; See 2021 whistleblower reward

November 4, 2020

T-Mobile will pay a $200 million penalty to resolve allegations that Sprint, prior to its merger with T-Mobile, falsely claimed monthly Lifeline subsidies for hundreds of thousands of low-income consumers who were not in fact using services.  FCC rules require that telecommunications providers claiming Lifeline subsidies must de-enroll subscribers who don't used their service at least once a month, so that the government does not continue to pay for unused Lifeline services.  FCC

July 24, 2020

Several divisions of pharmaceutical company Indivior, which marketed of the opioid-addiction drug Suboxone, pleaded guilty to felony healthcare fraud, entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement, and will pay a total of $600 million in criminal fines, restitution, civil damages, and penalties.  In six separate cases brought by whistleblowers, Indivior was also alleged to have caused false claims to be submitted to government healthcare programs including by promoting the sale of Suboxone to physicians who were prescribing it outside of medically accepted indication, misrepresenting the likelihood of Suboxone being diverted, and taking steps to delay generic competition for Suboxone. Indivior admitted making false statements about the safety of the film version of Suboxone in order to promote its sale.  In addition, the FTC claimed that violated antitrust laws through a deceptive scheme to thwart lower priced generic competition with Suboxone.  The total settlement consists of criminal restitution of $289 million; a civil settlement of $300 million, with $209.3 million paid to resolve claims by the federal government and $90.7 million to participating states; and, $10 million in penalties to the Federal Trade Commission.  The settlement also requires Indivior to take steps including the dissolution of its Suboxone sales force. Indivior was until 2014 a subsidiary of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, which previously paid $1.4 billion to resolve claims related to Suboxone marketing.  DOJ; USAO NJ; FTC

May 19, 2020

Payment processing company First Data Merchant Services, LLC will pay $40.2 million to resolve FTC charges that it laundered, or assisted laundering of, credit card transactions for scams facilitated by Chi “Vincent” Ko and his company First Pay Solutions LLC, which operated as an independent sales agent for First Data.  Ko allegedly opened hundreds of merchant accounts to process payments for scams that targeted hundreds of thousands of consumers, and First Data knowingly processed payments for those scams.  FTC

April 20, 2020

A company that markets rent-to-own payment plans in retail stores nationwide has agreed to pay $175 million to settle FTC charges of intentionally misleading customers.  By hiding payment terms, Progressive Leasing allegedly led customers to believe the payment plans had no interest when in fact, the company did charge an interest rate that resulted in customers paying as much as double the true price of products.  The settlement proceeds will go toward refunds for affected customers, and under the terms of the proposed settlement, Progressive Leasing will be prohibited from engaging in similar conduct and required to disclose full payment costs to its customers.  FTC

March 10, 2020

DOJ and the FTC have announced that $153 million comprising the first round of restitution payments from a Western Union fraud settlement is set to be disbursed to over 109,000 victims.  In 2017, the money transfer company agreed to pay $586 million to settle allegations of aiding and abetting wire fraud by failing to have effective anti-fraud policies and procedures.  Over 500,000 potential victims were harmed as a result of the fraud schemes, many of them elderly.  DOJ; FTC

March 4, 2020

The Massachusetts-based marketers of an electrical nerve stimulation device have settled FTC false advertising charges by agreeing to pay at least $4 million.  In marketing materials for Quell, NeuroMetrix, Inc. and CEO Shai Gozani allegedly described the device as "clinically proven" and "FDA cleared" for chronic pain relief all over the body, despite lacking scientific evidence or actual FDA approval to support such claims.  In addition to a cease and desist order and the $4 million judgment, NeuroMetrix has also been ordered to turn over another $4.5 million in future foreign licensing payments.  FTC

December 16, 2019

Steven (Kaveh) Shayan and Kevin (Kaveh) Shayan, who operated the website WeTakeSection8.com, have been permanently banned from offering rental listing services and ordered to pay more than $6 million following a complaint filed by the FTC.  The Shayans and their website falsely claimed that their subscription websites provided accurate, up-to-date rental listings that were approved for Section 8 housing vouchers, including properties with which they had exclusive listing agreements,  when, in fact, most of the listed properties were either unavailable or did not accept Section 8 housing vouchers. FTC

December 10, 2019

The University of Phoenix and its parent company, Apollo Education Group, have agreed to resolve FTC charges through a record $191 million settlement, with $50 million to be paid in cash and $141 million in debts owed by affected students to be canceled.  The charges involved ads that gave prospective students the false impression that the university worked with major technology companies to design its curriculum and provide job opportunities.  FTC