Tag Archives: consumer fraud

A Florida man was arrested in December after defrauding car owners by promising to do body work on their cars but then merely patching them up with Play-Doh. Nicholas Johnson, 33, of Port Richey, Fla., was charged with retail theft and scheming to defraud, according to a local news report. He reportedly roamed around his neighborhood, scouting out cars that needed body work, then offering to fix them. Johnson then allegedly used Play-Doh to make it look like preliminary body …

Workers burned in explosion win $179 million verdictThree men burned in an explosion in a grain elevator were awarded a combined verdict of $179 million by a federal jury in a judgment against food giant ConAgra, the owner of the silo. John Jentz, Robert Schmidt and Justin Becker worked for two companies hired to clean up a grain silo located in southern Illinois when it burst into flames. According to their lawsuit, ConAgra had not properly cleaned the elevator in …

Workers burned in explosion win $179 million verdict Three men burned in an explosion in a grain elevator were awarded a combined verdict of $179 million by a federal jury in a judgment against food giant ConAgra, the owner of the silo. John Jentz, Robert Schmidt and Justin Becker worked for two companies hired to clean up a grain silo located in southern Illinois when it burst into flames. According to their lawsuit, ConAgra had not properly cleaned the elevator …

TaxMasters ordered to pay $195 million for cheating consumers A company whose advertisements blanketed the airwaves promising help to underwater taxpayers has been ordered by a jury to pay $195 million in penalties for cheating its customers. A Texas jury found that TaxMasters Inc. violated state laws against deceptive business practices more than 110,000 times, according to the state Attorney General Greg Abbott.  The company promoted its “tax resolution” services through cable television commercials that touted its ability to help …