FTC Settles With Remaining Defendants in $70 Million Phone Cramming Case
The FTC settled with remaining defendants accused of a $70 million landline cramming operation in a case dating to 2013 (see 1604180019, 1412180047 and 1301230059). A Friday news release said commissioners voted 2-0 to approve a proposed stipulated final order,…
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which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, resolving the complaint against American eVoice, eight other companies and four individuals, including lead defendant Steven Sann and his wife, Terry Lane. The FTC said the settlement permanently bans defendants from all landline and mobile phone billing and unauthorized billing, in general. It imposes $41.9 million judgments partially or entirely suspended since defendants are unable to pay. "Sann will have to forfeit more than $500,000 in ill-gotten funds that he used to fund his IRAs, and he will also surrender an Infiniti Q56 and a Nissan 350Z," the FTC said, adding his other assets were transferred to a trustee administering his bankruptcy estate. In a parallel case brought by the U.S. attorney in Montana, the FTC said Sann was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges. The Better Business Bureau website notes American eVoice is "no longer in business." Contact information for Sann couldn't be found.