New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer sued H&R Block today for fraudulent IRA marketing.

Here’s an .mp3 link as to why.

“The suit alleges that the H&R Block Company steered hundreds of thousands of its clients…into IRAs that were virtually guaranteed to lose money because of a combination of hidden fees and low interest rates.”

For instance, an old man was charged a $15 account opening fee, a $10 account maintenance fee, and a $25 closing fee when the account was closed after 18 months. These fees dwarfed the interest earned on the account ($5.18) and he ended up losing 15 percent on his investment.

“Spitzer
s lawsuit specifically alleges that H&R Block…failed to adequately disclose its fees to its customers, failed to warn that the interest paid would not cover the fees in certain instances, and misleadingly described the interest rates as “great” when they were at times less than one percent annually.”

See, we knew there was a good reason why H&R Block got nominated for Worst Company in America. Likewise, a good reason why once again we’ll be turning to our old friend Turbo Tax this year.

Press Release [via Blogsnow]

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