Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Federal Trade Commission has stopped 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 Federal Trade Commission 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.

Litigation continues against Merdjanian and the corporate defendants.

The FTC will require Cox Media Group, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works to pay a total of $930,000 to settle allegations they deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting

The FTC reached a settlement with Steven and Gina Merritt, senior participants in a multilevel marketing company, over allegations that they deceived consumers about the amount of money they could earn from selling products and recruiting new participants to the MLM.

The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, and the Wisconsin Attorney General, filed suit against Consumer Law Protection and related companies, along with their owners and operators, Christopher Carroll, George Reed, Louann Reed, Scott Jackson, and Eduardo Balderas for scamming consumers—mostly older adults—out of more than $90 million in a massive timeshare exit scam.

Forever Living will be permanently prohibited from making deceptive earnings claims to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company deceived consumers that they could earn profits from the venture when the vast majority of participants made little or no money.

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.

In March 2026, the FTC announced that it secured a settlement against Xponential Fitness for Franchise Rule violations and related deceptive practices, including $17 million that will be returned to franchisees, which is the largest amount ever to go back to consumers in a franchise case.

The FTC alleged that Xponential Fitness, which sells franchises for popular fitness studios brands such as Club Pilates, Pure Barre, YogaSix, StretchLab, and BFT, misrepresented key information about the costs, risks, time to open and operate studios, and essential details about the company’s operations, leaving many franchisees and prospective franchisees in the dark about their investment.

In September 2024, the FTC announced that Ryan Cohen, managing partner of RC Ventures, LLC, and Chairman and CEO of GameStop Corp., will pay a $985,320 civil penalty to settle charges that his acquisition of Wells Fargo & Company shares violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $222,000 in refunds to consumers harmed by a deceptive mortgage relief operation known as Lanier Law. The scheme collected thousands of dollars in upfront fees from homeowners by promising to lower their monthly payments but then failed to deliver. As a result of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida, a federal court has ordered so-called “trucking automation” company RivX to cease its operations over allegations the firm has scammed consumers out of millions of dollars with deceptive promises of trucking industry investment opportunities.

The complaint filed by the FTC and the Florida Office of Attorney General alleges that RivX, along with its owner Antonio Rivodo and company executive Noah Wooten, have used deceptive claims of guaranteed income to entice consumers to pay $75,000 dollars or more to buy trucks that they often never received. 

In August 2024, the FTC and the Florida Office of Attorney General alleged that RivX, along with its owner Antonio Rivodo and company executive Noah Wooten, have used deceptive claims of guaranteed income to entice consumers to pay $75,000 dollars or more to buy trucks that they often never received. The scheme collected thousands of dollars in upfront fees from homeowners by promising to lower their monthly payments but then failed to deliver. A federal court has ordered so-called “trucking automation” company RivX to cease its operations In January 2026, the FTC announced two court orders resolving the complaint against all defendants in the case

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to block medical device supplier Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s (Edwards) proposed acquisition of JenaValve Technology, Inc. (JenaValve) due to concerns that the acquisition would limit patient access to lifesaving medical devices used to treat a potentially fatal heart condition. On January 9, 2026, after a six-day trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily prevent Edwards from acquiring JenaValve.

In August 2025, the FTC sued the operators of LA Fitness and other gyms over allegations they make it exceedingly difficult for consumers to cancel their gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless cancelled. The agency is seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and money back for consumers harmed by the difficulty in cancelling memberships.

In July 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal court against the California-based marketers and promoters of bogus treatments for serious medical conditions.  The defendants are two corporations headquartered in Porterville, California, and two of their executives: Huu Tieu, president and CEO of both companies; and Stephen Meis, Medical Director and board member of Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical.  The complaint alleged that defendants have promoted and sold a variety of products through "plans of care" ranging in price from $23,000 to $200,000, which falsely claim to treat or cure COVID-19, cancer, Parkinson's disease, etc. On June 14, 2021, the FTC announced a proposed order barring the defendants from making bogus health claims. In January 2024, the FTC announced the process defrauded consumers can use to seek refunds. In February 2026, the FTC announced it was sending refund checks to eligible consumers, as well as an online process for eligible consumers who have not yet submitted a claim to do so.