MIAMI (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Oct. 17 that a federal judge has granted its request for a preliminary injunction against two people and their companies for allegations of tricking small commercial trucking companies into paying them for federal and state motor carrier registrations.
The defendants in the case are James P. Lamb, Uliana Bogash, DOTAuthority.com Inc., DOTFilings.com Inc., Excelsior Enterprises International Inc. and JPL Enterprises International Inc. They are charged with violating the FTC Act, as well as the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act.
According to the FTC, the defendants stole more than $19 million from consumers by tricking them into paying for services that should be done through legitimate government agencies. Consumers in the commercial trucking business must register annually with the Unified Carrier Registration System or their state government and pay a fee based on their fleet size.
Some of these small businesses must also file a motor carrier identification report every two years, but this can be done completely free of charge on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website. The defendants tricked consumers into using their fake services instead of legitimate government services, the FTC said.
The FTC voted 3-0 to authorize the staff to file the complaint.