One of the defendants behind a massive landline cramming operation that placed more than $70 million in unauthorized charges on consumers phone bills has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges against him.
The settlement with Nathan M. Sann, a defendant in the American eVoice Ltd. case, includes a monetary judgment of more than $21 million - the amount of consumer injury attributable to Sann during his involvement with the scam.
The judgment will be suspended because of Sanns inability to pay following his surrender of certain personal assets. Under the settlement terms, if Sann has misrepresented his financial condition, the full judgment will become due.
In the complaint against Sann, the FTC alleged that the operation placed charges ranging from $9.95 to $24.95 per month on consumers landline phone bills for voicemail services they never signed up for and never knew they had. The case against the other entities and individuals involved in the scheme is ongoing.
The settlement bans Sann from placing charges of any kind on consumers phone bills. Sann also is prohibited from billing consumers for any good or service without their authorization. Sann further is required to destroy all personal information collected from consumers in connection with the cramming operation within 30 days.
