The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it had agreed to settle
charges against Capital Payments LLC (now known as Bluefin Payment
Systems, LLC), for its alleged involvement with The Tax Club, a
group of entities engaged in fraudulently telemarketing development
services, including business formation, counseling, credit
development, and marketing to individuals seeking to establish
small businesses.
The FTC's complaint charged Capital Payments
with assisting and facilitating deceptive telemarketing acts in
violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The FTC alleged
that in performing payment processing services for The Tax Club,
Capital Payments ignored red flags, including high chargeback rates
for credit card purchases, repeated reports from consumers of
fraudulent charges, and alerts from financial institutions.
Capital Payments ended its involvement in 2013 after the FTC
and the states of Florida and New York brought lawsuits against The
Tax Club.
