PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne obtained a temporary injunction on Friday against multiple Arizona-based telemarketing businesses and their principals for allegedly targeting elderly consumers in a work from home business opportunity scam.
Horne filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court against the defendants for allegedly violating the Arizona Telephone Solicitations Statute, the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and the Arizona Organized Crime, Fraud and Terrorism Act.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include JST Merchant Services LLC, JSTEBIZSERVICES LLC, J and S Productions LLC, Top Choice Merchants LLC, BBS Merchant Group LLC, E-Biz-Services LLC, North Star Billing LLC, United Billing Services LLC, United Online Merchants LLC, Jeffrey Alan Hankins, Thomas Mikla, Vyacheslav Yagudayev, Scott Shocklee, Veronica Cabrales and Brooke Marcus.
The defendants allegedly colluded to defraud consumers out of millions of dollars while selling them programs that would purportedly advertise the defendants' credit card processing services, provide cash advances to businesses and earn the consumers lucrative commissions. Consumers allegedly spent thousands of dollars on the business opportunities without ever receiving the substantial commissions they were promised.
The court granted Horne's request for a temporary injunction, which froze the defendants' business and personal assets and prohibited them from engaging in telemarketing activities or selling business opportunities.
Ariz. AG obtains injunction against telemarketers
