FTC Settles With Relief Defendant Bibliologic in Landline Cramming Case
Bibliologic, a "purported" nonprofit organization, agreed to surrender almost all its assets allegedly transferred to it by defendants involved in a multimillion-dollar landline cramming operation, the FTC said Monday in a news release. The commission approved the final order 4-0…
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and filed the proposal in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana. In 2013, the FTC filed a complaint against American eVoice, eight other companies, relief defendant Bibliologic, Steven Sann and three other individuals for allegedly placing more than $70 million in bogus charges on consumers' phone bills (see 1301230059). The commission said the defendants transferred millions of dollars "in ill-gotten gains to Bibliologic." The Bibliologic settlement "mirrors" one between the nonprofit and the Chapter 7 Trustee of Sann's bankruptcy estate, of which the FTC is the largest creditor, the commission said. Bibliologic will surrender "several assets, including a large tract of land, the contents of multiple bank and investment accounts, gold and silver, and several vehicles" to the trustee, the FTC said. While Bibliologic will be allowed to keep $100,000 to use for charitable purposes, the settlement also imposes a suspended monetary judgment of $100,000, meaning it would become due if the organization uses the money to benefit any defendant in the case. Bibliologic identifies itself as a Christian ministry on its IRS Form 990 tax return for 2012 compiled by the National Center for Charitable Statistics. An attorney for Bibliologic didn't comment.