FTC Refunding $1.3M to Victims of a Telemarketing Scheme

The Federal Trade Commission is sending out thousands checks to compensate victims of a fraudulent telemarketing scheme by Oro Marketing Inc.

The Commission says it will begin mailing a total of 6,192 refund checks worth a total in excess of $1.3 million to persons who were scammed by Oro Marketing.

The refunds will compensate victims for nearly a third of the money they lost. The average check is expected to total $216.

Oro Marketing, an alias used by defendants Sami Charchian and Cream Group Inc., allegedly defrauded Spanish-speaking women with promises that they could make money by reselling luxury brand-name goods.

In fact, the defendants charged these victims hundreds of dollars for low-quality generic products, the FTC says.

The current round of refunds comes from a court order and judgment issued in December 2014.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter ordered the defendants to turn over virtually all their assets to fund the refunds. The defendants are also permanently barred from further telemarketing activity, whether directly or through an intermediary.

According to the FTC, Oro Marketing charged victims between $400 and $490 for shipments of off-brand products different from the top-name brand items they were originally promised.

Victims who refused to pay for the cheap substitute products were threatened with meritless criminal and civil legal action, referral to U.S. immigration officials, and other hollow intimidations, the FTC says.

The FTC’s Oro Marketing lawsuit accused the defendants of committing deceptive acts or practices that violate the Federal Trade Commission Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Oro Marketing’s operations were shut down by court order in December 2013. The court subsequently froze the company’s assets and placed them in receivership.

With his December 2014 order, Judge Walter ordered the defendants to pay the FTC a monetary judgment of more than $5.1 million, payable in both cash and real estate holdings.

Judge Walter also ordered Charchian and one other defendant to sell off their personal cars, a 2009 Mercedes-Benz AMG and a 2008 Murc 640 Lamborghini, for fair market value to contribute to the judgment payment.

The entire judgment becomes due in full if the defendants are ever found to have misrepresented their financial condition.

“These defendants preyed on people who were just trying to make an honest living,” commented Jessica Rich, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Consumers are better off now that the defendants are out of the telemarketing business.”

According to the FTC, the distribution of refund checks will be administered by Analytics Consulting LLC.

Recipients are urged to cash their checks promptly before they expire after 60 days. The FTC notes that it never requires consumers to pay money or disclose their account information to cash a refund check.

If you have questions about the FTC lawsuit or the refund checks, you may call 1-855-719-1931.

The FTC Oro Marketing Telemarketing Scam Lawsuit is Federal Trade Commission v. Cream Group Inc., et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-08843, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: September 2017, the FTC is mailing a second round of settlement checks to victims of the Oro Marketing telemarketing scam worth more than $1 million in total. Consumers who receive a check in the mail should cash or deposit it within 60 days.