| FTC charges local rescue pilot i-Works owner accused of charging consumers without permission | |
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David DeMille ddemille@thespectrum.com The Spectrum | |
ST. GEORGE - Fresh off lending his helicopter to a humanitarian effort during this week's flooding, St. George resident Jeremy Johnson is facing charges from the Federal Trade Commission alleging Internet companies he owns or organized victimized hundreds of thousands of consumers by charging them without permission for "bogus" services. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, alleges that Johnson and nine other defendants made millions "by luring consumers into 'trial' memberships for bogus government-grant and money-making schemes, and then repeatedly charging them monthly fees for these and other memberships that they never signed up for." "No consumer should be sucker-punched into making payments for products they don't know about and don't want," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a press release. According to the FTC's release, Johnson and the other defendants, which include family members, have also attempted to keep consumers from having the credit and debit card charges taken back by threatening to report them "to an Internet consumer blacklist they operate." Johnson adamantly denied the charges during an interview at his St. George office Thursday, saying he was "disappointed" as to why the FTC would come after his company and contending that he would be vindicated when all the facts were presented in court. Johnson is the owner of iWorks Inc., a marketing company that started in 2000 and sells products on the Internet for client companies. The FTC linked Johnson and iWorks to 51 other "shell" companies, but did not allege that the companies were used to hide improprieties. Johnson said the other companies are set up to help eliminate fraud by isolating bad clients. The FTC first started investigating the company in February, collecting documents, Johnson said. He said he has repeatedly tried to work with the commission to identify the problems, halting all marketing efforts since that time and spending upwards of $2 million to comply with the FTC demands. Allegations that the companies had been charging consumers without their knowledge are "completely false," Johnson said, producing an example screen shot that tells consumers they are signing up for a 7-day trial membership for $2.29, but also articulates that additional automatic charges will be made if the membership is not canceled. He then produced other examples from companies not involved with iWorks including American Express, that do not disclose what additional charges may occur. "We tell you exactly what you're going to be billed, when and where," he said. Johnson also said the charge about "bogus" grants and "money-making schemes" and false testimonials are wrong. Johnson went so far as to produce results from a polygraph lie-detector test as evidence of innocence. He said he had the test conducted with the feeling that the FTC would eventually file charges. Johnson has played a key role in local search and rescue efforts, lending his helicopters and time as a pilot to numerous search and rescue efforts, emergency management operations and humanitarian missions. He was heavily involved in operations during this week's flooding. Johnson also helps provide media access to news events, including the floods and this year's earthquake in Haiti. Washington County Sheriff-elect Cory Pulsipher said Johnson's help has been invaluable, giving local departments a resource that isn't readily available from the government. "We've just been overly blessed with having him available," Pulsipher said. | |
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TheSpectrum.com Originally published December 24, 2010 | |
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