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Microcap & Penny Stocks : HITSGALORE.COM (HITT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Q. who wrote (4928)	1/13/2000 10:50:00 PM
From: Q.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7056

The San Francisco Chronicle APRIL 16, 1991, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. C1 LENGTH: 586 words HEADLINE: Visa, MasterCard Say Scam Bilked Over 100,000 People BYLINE: Kenneth Howe, Chronicle Staff Writer BODY: Visa and MasterCard said yesterday that they have uncovered a nationwide credit-card scam that appears to have bilked more than 100,000 consumers of as much as $ 20 million. The fraud is alleged in a $ 95 million lawsuit filed in San Francisco District Court. It accuses 18 individual and corporate defendants in California, Alabama, Colorado and Hawaii of a variety of charges, including racketeering and fraud. The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 16, 1991 According to Visa and MasterCard, a network of companies bilked consumers by promising to send them low-interest credit cards in exchange for a one-time processing fee of $ 79 to $ 200. But typically instead of plastic, what consumers got was a piece of paper -- a list of low-interest credit-card issuers that they could have had at a nominal cost from other sources, the suit contends. Through telephone sales pitches or junkmail offers, the defendants are alleged to have misrepresented themselves as either authorized representatives or associates of Visa, MasterCard or well-known financial institutions. These activities allegedly began around the middle of last year. Along with the suit -- which asks for $ 20 million in actual damages and $ 75 million in punitive damages -- Visa and MasterCard seek a preliminary injunction to shut down what the suit characterized as the 'boiler-room' operations and their sponsors. 'This injunction should put these scam artists out of business,' said William Neumann, senior vice president of Visa International's risk-management and security division. The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 16, 1991 One defendant said by Visa and MasterCard to be the mastermind of the alleged scam insisted yesterday that he had done nothing wrong. Daniel Klibanoff, head of Huntsville, Ala.-based Listworld, said that he and his company sell mailing lists to other companies and are not involved with any fraud. 'If I sell you a car and you drive it off a cliff tomorrow, that doesn't mean I'm responsible,' he said. Asked whether the suit was correct in stating that he had been convicted of 25 counts of mail fraud in 1985, Klibanoff refused to answer any more questions. 'Klibanoff is the brains behind the scheme,' contended Daniel Bookin, a lawyer with Farella, Braun & Martel of San Francisco, which is representing Visa and MasterCard. Bookin said that Klibanoff was 'franchising this fraudulent scheme to numerous telemarketers around the country.' The California defendants are identified in the suit as Better Home Financial Group, of Rancho Cucamonga, and Gary & Jim Investments Ltd., of Monterey County. Neither could be reached for comment. Bookin said that he is not sure how many consumers were bilked, but estimated the number at 'tens of thousands, probably over 100,000.' The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 16, 1991 Visa and MasterCard allege that consumers were convinced to use their existing credit cards to pay the one-time processing fee. The suit said that many consumers got nothing for their fee, while others received a short list of low-interest-rate credit cards. Such a list is available locally for the price of postage from Consumer Action, and a national list can be had from Bankcard Holders of America for $ 1.50. Some newspapers regularly publish lists of low-interest credit-card issuers. According to the suit, the defendants did send a few consumers credit-card applications from particular lenders. The suit says that all the applicants to People's Bank of Bridgeport, Conn., were turned down for cards, as were 80 percent of the applicants to Manufacturers Bank of Wilmington, Del. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH