Many of the residents of St. George are familiar with the local internet affiliated marketing company known as IWorks. Over the summer months, the IWorks owner, Jeremy Johnson has come under fire from the feds for his business of marketing grants and business opportunity products through alleged illegal means. Specifically, Mr. Johnson has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other federal and state authorities for charging numerous credit cards for amounts never agreed to by the consumers through a process known as negative option billing.
The FTC alleges that under the negative option billing method, IWorks, and many other affiliate marketing groups in Utah, would charge internet consumers for access to educational databases to learn how to obtain grants for an upfront fee of $1.99 or some other type of small token amount. The consumer would later be charged much more than that each month unless they contact the company to cancel. The terms were buried in fine print and purposefully concealed to some extent from the consumer. Most customers had no idea they would be charged hundreds of dollars later if they did not call and cancel the membership they did not realize they were purchasing. Last June, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stepped in and brought at least 1 charge of mail fraud against Mr. Johnson and his entities. Mr. Johnson has been accused taking millions of dollars from consumers and his assets have been seized and auctioned off. Mr. Johnson is now involved in a law suit with the auction managers regarding the sale of certain items of his property.
St. George Fraud Defense Lawyer
A St. George fraud defense lawyer at our law firm can help. Many individuals in Utah are engaged in affiliate marketing, advertising, and similar companies such as coaching and telemarketing. We understand these industries and have represented individuals involved in fraud charges. At our law office, we represent individuals who have been charged with all types of fraud whether that be mail fraud, mortgage fraud, or any other type of white collar crime in Southern Utah. We have experience in dealing with the types of crimes Mr. Johnson is facing. We understand that not every individual charged with these types of crimes, especially in cases involving the FTC, are guilty. We understand the unique issues involved with industries like affiliatemarketing, coaching, and telemarketing. We offer free consultations and are available on call at all hours. Speak with a Southern Utah criminal defense lawyer now at 435.215.1101.
