Payment processor settles FTC fraud allegations

Federal Issues FTC Payment Processors Settlement Enforcement FTC Act

On May 21, the FTC announced a payment processor, its CEO and owner, and two other officers (collectively, “defendants”) agreed to settle charges that they knowingly processed fraudulent transactions to consumers’ accounts in violation of the FTC Act. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants allegedly assisted merchants, who were engaged in fraud, in hiding their activities from banks and credit card networks. The defendants allegedly (i) created fake foreign shell companies to open accounts in their names; (ii) submitted dummy websites and other false information to merchant banks; and (iii) worked to evade card network rules and monitoring designed to prevent fraud. The settlement order against the processing company and its CEO imposes a judgment of over $110 million, which is partially suspended due to the inability to pay. The settlement order against one officer imposes a judgment of over $300,000, which is suspended due to the inability to pay. The settlement order against the second officer, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, imposes a $1 million judgment. Each order imposes a permanent ban on the defendants from, among other things, engaging in payment processing and credit card laundering, whether directly or through an intermediary.