Two defendants from Chicago have been barred from participating in Internet auctions and may face jail time after being accused by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of using stolen identification to offer nonexistent merchandise for sale online.
The FTC sued James D. Thompson and Susan B. Germek in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in April 2003, and on Thursday, the agency announced resolutions in the lawsuits, in which the two defendants have been barred from participating in Internet auctions. The judgments also spell out that the two are barred from making false claims about being able to deliver merchandise to consumers and misusing consumers’ personal information.
By using stolen identities in their online auction schemes, the two defendants led law enforcement agents and consumers to suspect the duo’s identity thefts victims, according to the FTC.
Thompson and Germek have also been indicted for mail fraud by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois. Germek pled guilty on one count of mail fraud and is awaiting sentencing; no trial date has been set for Thompson, according to the FTC.
Since 1999, the two allegedly offered various items for sale, including computer software and electronics, through Internet auctions, but failed to deliver the products after consumers paid them. Thompson and Germek constantly changed their auction names to conceal their actions, according to the FTC.
In 2001, the duo allegedly began a “serial” identity theft operation, and set up back accounts and post office boxes in other people’s names, according to the FTC. The identity theft victims included people with whom Thompson had personal relationships, people whose information Germek took from the records of a hotel where she worked and even a person who died, according to the FTC.
Instead of the two cases going to civil trials, Germek agreed to settle the FTC complaint, and the FTC obtained a judgment against Thompson, who did not appear in court to contest the FTC allegations.
The judgment entered against Thompson permanently bars him from participating in Internet auctions and selling or otherwise disclosing consumers’ personal or financial information. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered Thompson to pay $88,056.18 back to consumers.
The judgment against Germek, who agreed to settle the charges against her, contains the same conduct provisions. Under the settlement agreement, Germek provided $5,713.59 to replay consumers, and agreed to a suspended judgment ordering her to pay $41,186.94 if she is found to have misrepresented her financial situation.
