E.M. Systems & Services, LLC

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Last Updated:
Federal Trade Commission and Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida, Department of Legal Affairs, Plaintiffs, v. E.M. Systems & Services, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; Administrative Management & Design, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; KLS Industries, LLC, doing business as Satisfied Services Solutions, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; Empirical Data Group Technologies, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; Epiphany Management Systems, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; Steven D. Short; Karissa L. Dyar; One Easy Solution, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; Christopher C. Miles, an individual; Jason E. Gagnon, an individual; Kenneth A. Sallies, an individual; Matthew B. Thomas, an individual; CardReady, LLC, a California limited liability company; Brandon A. Becker, an individual; James F. Berland, an individual; and Andrew S. Padnick, an individual, Defendants.
FTC Matter/File Number:

152 3155

X150051

Civil Action Number:

8:15-cv-01417-SDM-EAJ

Enforcement Type:

Federal Injunctions

Federal Court:
Middle District of Florida
Related Case:

First Data Merchant Services LLC

Case Summary

The Federal Trade Commission is sending full refunds totaling more than $11 million to consumers who lost money to a bogus credit card interest rate reduction scheme operated by E.M. Systems & Services.

The FTC and the State of Florida alleged that the company’s owners, Steven D. Short and Karissa L. Dyar, used a variety of phony business names with associated websites, cold-called consumers with credit card debt and falsely promised to save them thousands of dollars by reducing their credit card interest rates. The FTC says that the defendants charged an up-front fee between $695 and $1,495, and falsely promised to provide refunds to consumers if they failed to reduce the interest rates.

First Data (add the following at the bottom of the existing summary): In April 2021, the FTC used funds from this case to provide $11 million in redress to consumers harmed by the E.M. Systems and Services scam.

Case Timeline

January 17, 2017

application/pdf icon Order (E.M. Systems & Services, LLC; Administrative Management & Design, LLC; KLS Industries, LLC; Empirical Data Group Technologies, LLC; Epiphany Management Systems, LLC; Karissa L. Dyar; and Steven D. Short) (102.44 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (Jason E. Gagnon) (90.37 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (One Easy Solution, LLC and Christopher C. Miles) (93.17 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (Andrew S. Padnick) (94.23 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (CardReady, LLC, Brandon A. Becker, and James F. Berland) (96.06 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (Kenneth A. Sallies) (99.04 KB)
application/pdf icon Order (Matthew B. Thomas) (90.35 KB)

November 30, 2016

application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment as to the E.M. Systems Defendants (976.9 KB)
application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment as to CardReady, LLC, Brandon A. Becker, and James F. Berland (657.16 KB)
application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment Against Defendant Andrew S. Padnick (665.43 KB)
application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment as to One Easy Solution, LLC and Christopher C. Miles (283.03 KB)
application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment as to Jason E. Gagnon (252.7 KB)
application/pdf icon [Proposed] Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment as to Matthew B. Thomas (242.38 KB)
PRESS RELEASE: Debt Relief Defendants Agree to Telemarketing and Financial Services Ban and Payment Processors Agree to Payment Processing Ban to Settle FTC Action