| DEBRA A. VALENTINE General Counsel CONNIE WAGNER KATHRYN E. LANDRETH BLAINE T. WELSH Attorneys for Plaintiff UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, Plaintiff CIVIL ACTION No. COMPLAINT FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF Plaintiff, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission ("FTC" or "Commission"), by its undersigned attorneys, alleges: 1. The FTC brings this action under Section 13(b) of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission Act ("FTC Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 53(b), to secure a permanent injunction and other equitable relief against defendants for their deceptive acts and practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) and false advertising in violation of Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52.JURISDICTION AND VENUE 2. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 52, and 53(b) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337(a) and 1345. 3. Venue in this district is proper under 15 U.S.C. § 53(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) and (c). THE PARTIES 4. Plaintiff, the FTC, is an independent agency of the United States government created by statute, 15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58. The FTC enforces Sections 5(a) FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) that prohibits deceptive acts or practices, and Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52 that prohibits false advertisements for food, drugs, devices, services or cosmetics, in or affecting commerce. The FTC may initiate federal district court proceedings to enjoin violations of the FTC Act and to secure appropriate equitable relief. 15 U.S.C. § 53(b). 5. Defendant International Outsourcing Group, Inc. ("IOG"), is a Nevada corporation. Its registered office is 630 S. Third Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101. IOG transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 6. Defendant Focus Medical Group, Inc. ("Focus"), is a Nevada corporation. Its registered office is 630 S. Third Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101. Focus transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 7. Defendant Trimline, Inc. ("Trimline"), is a Nevada corporation. Its registered office is 630 S. Third Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101. Trimline transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 8. Defendant Affordable Accents, Inc. ("Accents"), is a Nevada corporation. Its registered office is 630 S. Third Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101. Accents transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 9. Defendant World Wide RX, Inc. ("World RX"), is a Wyoming corporation. Its registered office is 1704 Westland Road, Cheyenne, WY 82001. World RX transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 10. Defendant World Wide Medicine, Inc. ("World Medicine"), is a Wyoming corporation. Its registered office is 1704 Westland Road, Cheyenne, WY 82001. World Medicine transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 11. Defendant PSRenn, Inc. ("Renn"), is a Nevada corporation. Its registered office is 2712 N. Green Valley Parkway, #389, Henderson, NV 89014. Renn transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 12. Defendant Doctors A.S.A.P., Inc. ("ASAP"), is a Wyoming corporation. Its registered office is 1704 Westland Road, Cheyenne, WY 82001. ASAP transacts or has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 13. The foregoing defendant corporations operate together as a common enterprise (hereinafter the "IOG Enterprise") to offer for sale and sell medical consultations and prescription medications over the Internet. 14. Defendant Sandra L. Rennert is the sole officer or director of each corporate member of the IOG Enterprise. Individually, or in concert with others, she directs, controls, formulates, or participates in the acts and practices of the IOG Enterprise, including the acts and practices complained of below. She resides in and has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 15. Defendant Philip Rennert, Sandra Rennert's husband, exercises control over the organization and operation of the IOG Enterprise and is a signatory on corporate bank accounts. Individually, or in concert with others, he directs, controls, formulates, or participates in the acts and practices of the IOG Enterprise, including the acts and practices complained of below. He resides in and has transacted business in the District of Nevada. 16. Defendant Lyle Mortensen is the accountant for the IOG Enterprise. He participated in drafting and caused to be sent, the email that is the subject of this Complaint. Individually, or in concert with others he formulates, or participates in the acts and practices of the IOG Enterprise, including certain of the acts and practices described below. He has transacted business in the District of Nevada. COMMERCE 17. At all times material to this complaint, defendants' course of business, including the acts and practices alleged herein, is or has been, in or affecting commerce, as "commerce" is defined in Section 4 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 44. DEFENDANTS' COURSE OF CONDUCT 18. Since at least May 1, 1998, defendants have offered for sale and sold medical consultations and prescription medications, including Viagra and Propecia, to consumers over the Internet. 19. The offering for sale and sale of medical consultations and prescription medications by defendants is a "service" for purposes of Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52. 20. The IOG Enterprise operates and/or has operated the Web sites located at the following addresses: www.focusmedical.com, www.focus-medical.com, www.doctors2000.com, www.doctorsasap.com, www.worldrx.com and www.worldwidemedicine.com. Each of these Web addresses is or has been registered to a company in the IOG Enterprise:
21. Defendants' advertising and promotional materials have listed the following toll-free number: 1-800-952-6211. This telephone number is registered to defendant Trimline. 22. Defendant IOG claims to "handle product fulfillment" for the Web sites operated by the IOG Enterprise. Products mailed to consumers from the IOG Enterprise list IOG as the sender on the return address. 23. The Web sites located at www.focusmedical.com and www.focus-medical.com prominently display the name "Focus Medical" and bear the copyright "1999 Focus Medical, Inc." 24. Consumers visit the IOG Enterprise's Web sites to obtain Viagra, Propecia and other prescription medications. Each Web site lists the names of the medications offered. When consumers "click" on the word Viagra in that list they are linked to a page that, among other things, provides two additional links stating "CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW!" and "CLICK HERE TO ORDER REFILL NOW!" 25. Consumers who choose the link for first-time orders are asked to provide billing and shipping information, and to answer questions about their medical history on a form entitled "Secure Viagra Order Form Personal and Payment Info." Consumers who choose the refill link are asked only for their shipping and payment information. 26. According to the IOG Enterprise's advertising and promotional materials, the medical information provided by the consumer on the first time order form is reviewed by one of its physicians who will write a prescription if appropriate. Consumers are charged $75.00 for this purported "consultation." 27. According to the IOG Enterprise's advertising and promotional materials, the prescription is then filled by IOG's on-site pharmacy and shipped directly to the consumer. 28. The IOG Enterprise distributes other prescription medications in a similar manner. 29. The IOG Enterprise promotes and/or has promoted the sale of its prescription medications over the Internet by stating that its customers are served by a medical clinic with physicians and an on-site pharmacy to fill prescriptions. The following statements are illustrative of defendants' representations about their facility:
30. The IOG Enterprise's customers are not served by a medical clinic with physicians and an on-site pharmacy. Rather, the IOG Enterprise pays one out-of-state physician to review the customers' medical questionnaires and approve or deny their prescription requests. The physician is paid $10.00 for each of the first 50 questionnaires he reviews per week and $7.50 for each additional questionnaire he reviews after that. Moreover, he is not paid if the customer's prescription request is denied. After receiving and reviewing the questionnaires, he sends IOG a list of customers' names with checkmarks indicating whether each customer's request has been approved or denied. 31. The IOG Enterprise forwards a list of the physician-approved prescription requests to an independent, off-site pharmacy. The pharmacy fills the prescriptions and delivers them to IOG. IOG mails the filled prescriptions to its customers. 32. The IOG Enterprise promotes and/or has promoted its services to consumers by stating that information provided to its pharmacy Web sites is secure, and will be used solely to supply customers with requested products and services. The following statements are illustrative of defendants' representations about the safeguards used to protect the personal information supplied by consumers:
33. The "Secure Viagra Order Form Personal and Payment Info" further limits the use of customers' credit and debit card information by requiring customers to explicitly authorize the IOG Enterprise to charge their cards for a consultation and the prescription. 34. Information customers provide to the defendant's Web sites is not secure. The information is not encrypted, nor is it transmitted using a Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL") connection. 35. On or about June 13, 1999 the IOG Enterprise caused the following message to be sent to approximately 11,000 customers of its Web sites:
36. By means of this email message, defendants represented that they had the legal authority to charge customers' debit and credit cards a fee for Y2K remediation services without obtaining prior authorization. 37. By means of this email message, defendants represented to customers that their credit card billing information had been shared with a third party vendor for a purpose other than to bill them for prescription medications and consultations. 38. By means of this email message, defendants represented that they owned and operated computer equipment that required extensive Y2K remediation services, and that customers had to bear the cost of the those services. 39. At the time this email message was sent, the IOG Enterprise did not own or operate computer equipment that required extensive Y2K remediation services. The IOG Enterprise did not intend to use the money collected for Y2K remediation services for that purpose. 40. Customers who received this email message believed that their credit cards would be charged $50 by Impact Technologies. Customers were concerned about the prospect of this unauthorized charge and may have canceled their credit cards to avoid being charged. Many customers complained directly to the IOG Enterprise by email or by calling the toll-free number listed therein. Defendants have testified that, because of the high volume of complaints they received, they did not allow Impact Technologies to charge consumers' credit and debit card accounts.VIOLATIONS OF THE FTC ACT COUNT I 41. Defendant Corporations, Defendant Sandra Rennert and Defendant Philip Rennert have represented to consumers, expressly or by implication, that their customers are served by a clinic with physicians and an on-site pharmacy. In truth and in fact, their customers are not served by a clinic with physicians and an on-site pharmacy, and in fact, defendants are not licensed to practice medicine or dispense prescription medication. 42. Therefore, defendants' representation, as alleged above, is false and misleading, and constitutes a deceptive act and practice in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) and/or false advertising in violation of Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52. COUNT II 43. Defendant Corporations, Defendant Sandra Rennert and Defendant Philip Rennert have represented to consumers, expressly or by implication, that the information customers provide to their Web sites is encrypted and that defendants use an SSL secure connection when transmitting this information over the Internet. In truth and in fact, the information customers provide to defendants' Web sites is not encrypted and defendants do not use an SSL secure connection when transmitting this information over the Internet. 44. Therefore, defendants' representation, as alleged above, is false and misleading, and constitutes a deceptive act or practice, in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). COUNT III 45. Defendants have represented to consumers, expressly or by implication, that they have legal authority to bill customers' credit or debit cards for IOG's Y2K remediation services, without prior authorization. In truth and in fact, defendants do not have legal authority to bill customers' credit or debit cards for IOG's' Y2K remediation services, without prior authorization. 46. Therefore, defendants' representation, as alleged above, is false and misleading, and constitutes a deceptive act or practice, in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). COUNT IV 47. Defendants have represented to consumers, expressly or by implication, that they would use personal information only for medical consultations and billing for prescriptions and consultations. In truth and in fact, defendants did not use personal information only for medical consultations and billing for prescriptions and consultations. 48. Therefore, defendants' representation, as alleged above, is false and misleading, and constitutes a deceptive act or practice, in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). CONSUMER INJURY 49. Defendants' violations of Sections 5(a) and 12 of the FTC Act have, in fact, injured and will continue to injure consumers. Absent injunctive relief by this Court, the defendants are likely to continue to injure consumers, reap unjust enrichment, and harm the public interest. THIS COURT'S POWER TO GRANT RELIEF 50. Section 13(b) of the FTC Act empowers this Court to issue injunctive and other relief against violations of the FTC Act and, in the exercise of its equitable jurisdiction, to award redress to remedy the injury to consumers, to order disgorgement of monies resulting from defendants' unlawful acts or practices, and to order other ancillary equitable relief. PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, plaintiff requests that this Court: (1) Award plaintiff all temporary and preliminary injunctive and ancillary relief that may be necessary to avert the likelihood of consumer injury during the pendency of this action, and to preserve the possibility of effective final relief, including, but not limited to temporary and preliminary injunctions, appointment of a receiver and an order freezing each defendant's assets; (2) Enjoin defendants permanently from violating Section 5(a) and 12 of the FTC Act, including such violations that occur in connection with the sale of medical products or services and/or the billing of credit and debit cards. (3) Award plaintiff such relief the Court finds necessary to redress injury to consumers resulting from defendants' violations of Section 5(a) and 12 of the FTC Act, including, but not limited to the restitution, rescission of contracts, and the disgorgement of unlawfully obtained monies; and (4) Award plaintiff the cost of bringing this action as well as such additional equitable relief as the Court may determine to be just and proper. Respectfully submitted, _______________________ CONNIE WAGNER Date:___________ |