Blumenthal
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has announced that restitution checks totaling $60,000 have been sent to consumers who allegedly paid a Bridgeport company for headstones that were not delivered.
Seventy-three consumers who allegedly made full or partial payments to Lakeview Monument for gravestones that were never supplied will receive the checks. The same consumers will receive additional checks totaling $18,000 by next May to provide them with 100 percent restitution.
"I am pleased that our office secured full restitution - every dollar back - for consumers cruelly conned by Lakeview Monument," Blumenthal said.
"Lakeview extracted hard-earned dollars from vulnerable consumers consumed by grief and loss. The company and its owner continued accepting payments for monuments they could not deliver. Lakeview's failure to provide headstones exacerbated the heartbreak of losing a loved one."
Blumenthal sued Lakeview in 2008, alleging that the company knew in April 2007 that it would not be able to fulfill orders. The company, however, continued to accept deposits and full payments until ceasing operations in September 2007.
Blumenthal subsequently collected $60,000 from Richard Miron, Lakeview's owner, and obtained a court judgment requiring the additional $18,000 in consumer restitution by May 2011.
Separate criminal charges have been brought against Miron by the Bridgeport State's Attorney's Office.