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Canada: Telemarketer Sentenced to Jail
OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(OCT
2005) – A telemarketer has been sentenced to jail, following an
investigation by the Competition Bureau into a deceptive telemarketing
scam, operating from call centres in Toronto, Montreal and St. John’s,
Nfld.
Earlier this month, Justin Pold, 37, of Montreal, who was in charge of
the directories scam for International Business Directories, was
sentenced to 18 months in prison. Pold also received two years
probation, a seven-year prohibition order under section 34(2.2) of the
Competition Act as well as an order prohibiting him from participating
in any activity involving the sale of office supplies or business
directories by telemarketing.
As part of the scam, not-for-profit organizations, businesses and
government agencies in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom
were contacted by telemarketers who claimed to be the regular supplier
of office supplies or were renewing a business directory order. The
telemarketers failed to disclose material information, such as the
terms and conditions of delivery, which included a 20% return fee.
Businesses would then receive office supplies or directories that they
would not have ordered were it not for these false and misleading
representations.
Also charged were the corporations, which operated under a number of
businesses, including Commercial Business Supplies, Merchant
Transaction Supplies, Merchant Supply Services, and International
Business Directories, 153595 Canada Inc., 162013 Canada Inc., 162014
Canada Inc., 174440 Canada Inc., M.M. International Business
Directories Ltd., and 3350550 Canada Inc. These companies generated
sales of over $100-million during a six-year period.
“Everyone is a potential target of deceptive telemarketing,” said
Raymond Pierce, Deputy Commissioner, Competition Bureau. “Individuals
engaged in deceptive telemarketing are warned that the Bureau will
continue to combat this criminal activity through rigorous
investigation and prosecution of those involved.”
Other individuals involved in the scam have already plead guilty and
were given sentences: Randolph Misiurak, 40, Montreal, and Stephane
Ouellet, 39, Montreal. Charles McCulloch, 39, Toronto, received a
conditional discharge and Francois Lefort, 37, Montreal, received an
unconditional discharge.
A trial date has been set for Michael Mouyal for March 20 – April 28,
2006, before the Court of Quebec at the Palais de justice in Montreal.
Mr. Mouyal was the alleged directing mind.
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that
promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can
benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality service. It
oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging
and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals
Marking Act.
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