Well, ping pong balls and rotating cages it ain’t: The former lottery security official convicted of trying to rig the system to pick winning numbers is now facing up to 25 years in prison for the scheme. [More]
do not pass go
Wells Fargo Already Playing Its ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card To Avoid Lawsuits Over Fake Accounts
By 12.7.16
Wells Fargo is facing multiple lawsuits from customers and employees over the long-running fake account fiasco that saw more than two million bogus, unauthorized accounts being opened in customers’ names. Even though lawmakers and consumer advocates have repeatedly asked the bank to not sidestep its liability by using an often-ignored clause in its customer agreement, lawyers for Wells Fargo have already begun to play that “get out of jail free” card. [More]
Proposed Rules Would Take Away Banks’ “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card
By 5.5.16
Many bank accounts, and almost all credit cards, wireless services, private student loans, and payday loans contain clauses in their contracts that strip consumers of their right to sue these companies, and their right to join others in a class action, effectively allowing businesses to sidestep the legal system. While lawmakers in Congress debate the issue, and the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly given its approval to these practices, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making good on its pledge to restore consumers’ constitutional right to having their day in court. [More]
Prosecutors Recommend Life Sentence For Peanut Co. Exec Involved In Salmonella Outbreak
By 7.24.15
Stewart Parnell is the former owner of Peanut Corporation of America, the company behind a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and killed nine people in 2008 and 2009. Last year, a federal jury convicted him of knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter, and this week prosecutors in the case recommended he receive a life sentence for his crimes. [More]
Arrest Warrant Issued For “Cash Grant Institute” Scammer Who Failed To Pay $20 Million Penalty
By 2.20.14
Nearly two years after the FTC hit the scammy robocallers at the “Cash Grant Institute” with a record $30 million penalty for violating federal Do Not Call regulations a few million times, a judge has issued an arrest warrant for one of the scheme’s operators after he failed to repay the lion’s share of what he’d agreed to hand over. [More]
Travel Club Scammers Plead Guilty To Bilking Millions From Consumers
By 8.8.13
After years of tricking New Jersey residents into paying millions of dollars to bogus “travel clubs,” a husband and wife scammer team have entered guilty pleas, and at least one of them will probably spend a few years behind bars. [More]
Convict Tries, Fails To Use Google As Get Out Of Jail Free Card
By 3.22.10
A convicted bank robber had been hoping to get out of jail because the judge in his parole revocation hearing admitted to doing a Google search on a piece of evidence. Unfortunately for him — and fortunately for just about everyone else — an appeals court disagreed. [More]
