McCollum
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced on Thursday that his office has obtained a judgment against a plumbing company that will give back more than $104,000 to consumers who were allegedly defrauded by the company.
Tri-County Plumbing Services, Randall Gilbert, Leslie Gilbert and Susan Gilbert allegedly sent door-to-door salesmen posing as plumbers to trick people into paying large fees for plumbing work. This scheme was perpetrated on many seniors.
McCollum alleges the company charged dramatically inflated prices and salesmen threatened consumers that they could lose their homes or have liens against their property if they didn't pay.
During some of the work, sledgehammers were allegedly used to gouge holes in walls, driving up the cost of repairs, McCollum says.
Under terms of the judgment, Randall Gilbert, an attorney, is prohibited from lecturing to members of the construction or plumbing industry.
Another $550,000 in civil penalties was also made in the judgment, which will go to the state's General Revenue fund to benefit Florida taxpayers.