[xenopia]

This kind of deceptive business is quite common, and they usually get away with it. It would be naive to think that the Feds have the resources to go after every company that engages in deceptive marketing. There is something more here. They have taken the trouble to get access to bank accounts, this is no minor step. I think they saw enough in those accounts to warrant going after this. While there may well have been a sweep account involved, the document seems to clearly imply that they looked at the pattern of individual deposits coming in from the "customers." To say that this is some overzealous prosecutor desperate for fame seems a bit hasty.

Consider that they pulled records of how many business reply cards came into the PO box and compared that to how many names were actually published in the book. They compared that to the bank accounts. While I have my doubts that the actual solicitation was illegal and that the total dollar amounts were so high, there seems to be more here than just an out of control prosecutor.

If United billed far more names than they actually published in the book, that would be fraud.

[marclove]

After reading the complaint, I think its pretty clear the reason the Feds thought it warranted this much investigation:

"In November 2009, two victims from the Charles Smith/YPDP fraud scheme contacted the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Georgia, indicating that they were still receiving fraudulent Yellow Pages solicitations..."

When they investigated and realized that the solicitation came from a company owned by Charles Smith's brother, I'm sure that was enough to launch a full fledged investigation.

[acangiano]

My analysis was in fact limited to the legality of the solicitation. I'm in no way qualified to figure out the legality of their operations in general.