FTC Shuts Down $6 Million Business Opportunity Scheme

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it has shut down a bogus business opportunity that allegedly scammed more than $6 million from American and Canadian consumers. The defendants in the scheme were charged with multiple violations under several laws, including the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Business Opportunity Rule. A federal district court has frozen the assets of the 20 individuals and 8 companies involved. The Commission charged that in addition to changing office locations and product names, the defendants who initially operated their business under the name Money Now Funding, LLC, also changed the company’s name to “Cash4Businesses” to avoid law enforcement detection. The FTC alleges that the defendants misrepresented their products and the earnings potential with false promises that consumers could make money by referring other local businesses to defendants’ non-existent money-lending business. The consumers were allegedly told that they could earn up to $3,000 per month with the referrals for small business loans or cash advances up to $20,000.