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BABC UPDATE
Federal court keeps telemarketer closed
An order prohibiting Bay Area Business Council from doing business is extended as the FTC seeks refunds for people ripped off in a credit card scheme.
By Times staff writer
St. Petersburg Times
published August 22, 2002
-----------------------------------------------------------------LARGO -- A federal judge in Chicago has extended until Monday a court order that shut down the Bay Area Business Council, a Largo telemarketing business that federal officials say has scammed more than 90,000 people this year.

U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah signed an order last week ordering the business, at 801 West Bay Drive, to cease operations. The Federal Trade Commission asked the judge to issue the order after receiving complaints that the company was deceiving customers.

FTC officials and a court-appointed receiver showed up at the business Thursday and sent employees home. Officials changed the locks on the doors and froze the assets of the business and its primary officers. On Monday, the judge can either enter a stipulated preliminary injunction if the FTC and the company come to a settlement or can schedule a preliminary injunction hearing, said David O'Toole, an FTC attorney.

The FTC wants the judge to extend the order indefinitely while the agency seeks to force the business to pay back customers who have been ripped off, officials said. FTC officials say the Bay Area Business Council and American Leisure Card Corp., a related business in Sunrise that was shut down last week, were selling credit cards over the phone. But the cards turned out to be pay-as-you-go cards, not credit cards.

Most customers had about $200 drained from their bank accounts, then were unable to get refunds, court records state. O'Toole said the company, which has been in operation for more than two years, has ripped off more than 90,000 people this year. The victims are from all over the country.

The order was filed in a Chicago federal court because some victims live in Illinois. The company is owned by Peter J. Porcelli. Two other company officials, Christopher Tomasulo and Bonnie A. Harris, are named in the order.

Donna
N Richland Hills, Texas