Part 2 – Wachovia to Pay $144M Settlement

Posted on April 26, 2008
Filed Under Business, Life Strategy | Leave a Comment

Part 2 Wachovia to pay $144M settlementFederal regulators accuse the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank of not acting quickly enough to protect customers from telemarketers.

Last Updated: April 25, 2008: 5:44 PM EDT
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Here is a Court Document on one of the companies sited in the original article – there were at least 3 or 4.

DISTRICT COURT ENTERS PERMANENT INJUNCTION
AGAINST PAYMENT PROCESSING CENTER

February 12, 2007 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – United States District Court Judge John R. Padova has entered a permanent injunction against Payment Processing Center, LLC (“PPC”), headquartered in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and its owners and managers, Donald M. Hellinger, Michael Weisberg, Ronald Hellinger, Jamie Pearlman, Randy D. Trost, Michele O’Keefe Quigley, and Robert DeBoyace.

Fraudulent telemarketers use third-party payment processors like PPC to facilitate the banking procedures by which money is taken without authorization, often on a recurring basis, from victims’ bank accounts. In a civil action captioned United States of America v. Payment Processing Center, LLC, et al., Civil Action No. 06-00725 (JP), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania obtained a permanent injunction that terminates PPC’s operations, imposes a receivership over its assets, and establishes a multi-million dollar restitution fund for victims of PPC and fraudulent telemarketers. The restitution program will include mailed notices to all of PPC’s victims who have not already received full refunds. The U.S. Attorney’s Office anticipates that at least $4 million of the defendants’ assets will be available to fund the restitution program.

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For the record the defendants sited above did not go to jail and I am not sure they were even found guilty of a punishable crime. Here is the website sited above:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/feb/PPC.html

 The telemarketers only had to ante up $4 million dollars. You can bet they took a lot more than this.

If you live in Bucks County take note of the names in the Court Document. You might want to remember them even if you live somewhere other than Pennsylvania.

Just a little advice:

Do not give your bank account number out over the phone. Do transactions by snail mail or in person. If you must deal over the phone and If you are dealing with your credit card company make sure you know to whom you are speaking. If it is an online transaction then look for the lock and security sign in your browser.

If you are a victim of fraud you can contact your bank and advise them. Remember that they are not liable but they will cooperate to let you know where the check was deposited and that is where you have recourse because they are liable. If you have any problems contact your Attorney Generals office in whatever state you live. If you are a senior citizen you have an advocate with the Department of Aging.

The best advice I can give right now is this. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Don’t be taken for a ride.

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