Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

In June 2021, the FTC charged online marketer Trend Deploy with falsely promising consumers that it could quickly deliver facemasks and other personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, then failing to deliver on customers’ orders or offer cancellations or refunds. The Commission is seeking refunds for consumers, as well as civil penalties. In June 2023, the FTC announced a summary judgment in its favor against the defendants.

In August 2025, the FTC Frank Romero, the operator of Trend Deploy,was required to turn over the remaining funds in his bank and retirement accounts as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Romero failed to comply with a 2023 judgment stemming from an FTC lawsuit charging that he did not deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) as promised to consumers.

In July 2026, the FTC issued payments to consumers affected by Trend Deploy’s deceptive marketing.  

In December 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it took action to stop a scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars out of consumers burdened with student loan debt by pretending to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the FTC’s Impersonation Rule, collecting illegal advance fees, and making other deceptive claims.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada entered a temporary restraining order on November 22, 2024 and a preliminary injunction against corporate defendant Superior Servicing on December 6, 2024. 

The FTC filed an amended complaint adding corporate defendants Sunrise Solutions USA LLC, Alumni Advantage LLC, Student Processing Center Group LLC, SPCTWO LLC, Accredit LLC and individual defendants Eric Caldwell and David Hernandez.

In September 2025, the FTC announced that Caldwell and Hernandez will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and will be required to turn over their assets to resolve FTC charges that they helped operate an illegal student loan debt-relief operation. Additionally, Caldwell will be banned from the telemarketing industry, and Hernandez will be prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

In February 2026, a federal judge entered an order against Dennise Merdjanian, an operator of the scheme, that permanently banned her from the debt relief industry and telemarketing following a settlement with the FTC.

In June 2026, a federal judge entered a default order against corporate defendants Superior Servicing LLC, Sunrise Solutions USA LLC, Alumni Advantage LLC, Student Processing Center Group LLC, SPCTWO LLC and Accredit LLC. resolving litigation against the remaining defendants in the case.

Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network Inc. (Celsius), and his business partners, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein, will pay a total of $16.5 million to resolve the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceived users by falsely promising that deposits made to their cryptocurrency platform would be safe and always available.

Mashinsky and Leon have also agreed to a ban on marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. Similarly, Goldstein has agreed to a ban on marketing or selling retail products or services that can be used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade cryptocurrency. 

In January 2026, the Federal Trade Commission sued JustAnswer LLC and its CEO, alleging the online question-and-answer service deceives people seeking expert advice into enrolling in a monthly recurring subscription without obtaining consumers’ affirmative consent.

The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Nevada are taking action to stop a wide-ranging investment training and business venture scam that has bilked consumers out of more than $1.2 billion. According to the complaint filed by the FTC and the Nevada Attorney General, the scam currently operates as IYOVIA and has also used the brand names IM Mastery Academy, iMarketsLive, and IM Academy (collectively, “IML”).

On Aug. 7, 2025, the FTC announced that three of the defendants, Global Dynasty Network, LLC, Jason Brown, and Matthew Rosa, agreed to a settlement of the allegations.

In August 2025, a U.S. District Court judge in Nevada has issued a preliminary injunction against the three companies that executed the IM Mastery Academy schemes and the two individuals who have led it, halting their activities and requiring them to preserve their assets.

Following settlements with several other defendants, in September 2025, the FTC announced proposed settlements with defendants Alex Morton and Brandon Boyd. 

In May 2026, the FTC announced settlements with five individual and corporate IM Mastery Academy defendants, including ringleaders Chris and Isis Terry.

Nevada-based Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight, and its two principals, Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport, have agreed to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceptively advertised the effectiveness of a range of supplements touted as supporting height growth in children and teenagers, and relied on reviews that were written by their own employees, or by consumers who were offered a free product or discount in return for writing a 5-star review. 

The FTC filed a lawsuit against the three largest prescription drug benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark Rx, Express Scripts (ESI), and OptumRx—and their affiliated group purchasing organizations (GPOs) for engaging in anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices that have artificially inflated the list price of insulin drugs.

On February 4, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission secured a landmark settlement with Express Scripts, Inc., and its affiliated entities (collectively “ESI”). The settlement requires ESI to adopt fundamental changes to its business practices that increase transparency, are expected to drive down patients’ out-of-pocket costs for drugs like insulin by up to $7 billion over 10 years, bring millions of dollars in new revenue to community pharmacies each year, and advance the Trump Administration’s key healthcare priorities.

On July 14, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission secured a settlement agreement Caremark Rx LLC and Zinc Health Services LLC (collectively Caremark) .

Caremark has agreed to a settlement agreement that requires the PBM to adopt changes to its business practices to drive down patients’ out-of-pocket costs, increase transparency and ensure community pharmacies are treated fairly.

The Federal Trade Commission secured $12 million in penalties to settle charges alleging that Edwards Lifesciences Corp. acquired medical device maker JC Medical from Genesis MedTech Group Limited without complying with the notification and waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR).

Under the terms of a proposed final judgment Edwards, including former Genesis subsidiary JC Medical, will pay a $10 million penalty. Genesis will pay a $2 million penalty. Edwards will also be subject to additional terms including prior notice requirements. The combined $12 million penalty is the largest ever for failing to make an HSR filing.

RentGrow, a provider of consumer reports for tenant screening, will be required to pay $2.25 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, and the FTC Act.

On July 8, 2026, the FTC, along with five states, secured an important settlement in an antitrust lawsuit against farm equipment manufacturer Deere & Company that will ensure farmers can enjoy the right to repair their own John Deere tractors and farm equipment.

The Federal Trade Commission, along with the New York Attorney General, are taking action against gig economy company Handy Technologies for making a broad array of deceptive claims about how much money workers on its platform could earn.

The complaint charges that Handy, which currently does business as Angi Services, has peppered its advertisements with earnings claims that don’t reflect the reality for the overwhelming majority of workers on the platform. The complaint also charges that Handy has failed to clearly disclose fees and fines that have led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers.

Under the terms of a proposed settlement order, Handy would be required to turn over $2.95 million to be used to provide refunds to harmed workers, and make substantial changes to ensure that workers give clear consent to any fees charged by the company and that the company gives workers clear direction about how to avoid fines.

Publishing.com LLC and its two principals will pay $1.5 million and be required to substantiate earnings claims in the future to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company and its operators misled consumers about how much money they were likely to earn using their products.

Amazon will pay $2.25 million in civil penalties to settle FTC allegations that the online retail giant knowingly violated the 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by refusing to provide transaction records to consumers whose personal information was used by identity thieves to commit fraud.

The FTC will prohibit data broker Kochava and its subsidiary from selling, sharing or disclosing sensitive location data without consumer consent to settle allegations the companies sold location data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that could be used to trace the movements of individuals.

The FTC is requiring Aurobindo Pharma Limited to divest four different generic drug products to complete its $250 million acquisition of Lannett Company Inc.

The Federal Trade Commission, along with Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas, today filed a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), alleging the organization has provided the means for medical providers to make false and unsubstantiated claims to parents in order to sell pediatric medical transition services.

At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted a sprawling enterprise of deceptive subscription schemes—comprised of 15 corporations and eight individuals—from continuing to deceive consumers with hidden costs and recurring charges, while failing to provide simple mechanisms to cancel subscriptions. 

The FTC sued multilevel marketer Amare Global Holdings Inc. and three of its principals for misrepresenting to parents and other consumers that its dietary supplements marketed for children and adults could treat or cure health conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD, and for misleading its seller recruits about their potential earnings as “brand partners.” 

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal court to hold in contempt dietary supplement provider Amare Global Holdings as well as its former Chief Science Officer Shawn Talbott and two other individuals over allegations they violated an FTC order in the Window Rock case that banned Talbott and those who work with him from making false, deceptive or unsubstantiated health claims.