Tag: Regional Offices

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. 

As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, a federal court has temporarily halted the operations of a wide-ranging business opportunity and credit repair scam that has operated under the name “Growth Cave” since at least 2020.

The FTC’s complaint against the operation and its owners and officers, Lucas Lee-Tyson, Osmany Batte (also known as “Ozzie Blessed”), and Jordan Marksberry, alleges that the Growth Cave operation has taken approximately $50 million from consumers using false promises of huge income.

In May 2025, the FTC filed an amended complaint in this case, adding two defendants based on information the FTC learned after the original filing.

The amended complaint names LLT Research as a new defendant in the case and adds as a relief defendant Friendly Solar, Inc. In January 2026, the FTC announced court orders with all defendants settling the Commission’s complaint.

In July 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it stopped the operators of a scheme that it says tricked financially strapped consumers seeking student loan relief into paying hundreds of dollars in junk fees. The operators often targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico, pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education and its loan servicers, and made false promises of low, permanently fixed monthly payments and loan forgiveness.

A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets at the request of the FTC.

In May 2025, the FTC announced that the operators of the scam have agreed to be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and to turn over their assets to resolve allegations that they misled consumers.

The FTC reached a settlement with Apitor Technology over allegations that its app enabled a third party in China to collect geolocation information from children without parental consent.

The Citizens Disability, LLC and its subsidiary will pay a $1 million penalty to resolve FTC allegations that they made tens of millions of illegal calls to consumers and that they misrepresented that they were calling consumers in response to inquiries about their eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.