Corporate Compliance Services
Also known as: Starwood Consulting LLC.
The FTC and Florida alleged that Corporate Compliance Services mailed new businesses notices designed to look like government invoices, demanding $84 for labor law posters and warning of fines up to $17,000. The operators paid $1.2 million.
Resolved. Refunded, settled, ceased operating, or the claim did not hold up. Kept for the record.
Identity
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- Registrations
- FTC and State of Florida v. Thomas Henry Fred, Jr. and Starwood Consulting LLC, d/b/a Corporate Compliance Services (FTC case 182-3007, 2018)
- Locations
- Florida
- Jurisdictions
- United States (federal) · Florida · Texas
A mailer built to be mistaken for a bill
Thomas Henry Fred, Jr. and Starwood Consulting LLC, trading as Corporate Compliance Services, sent mailers to newly established businesses. The notices demanded $84 for labor law posters and warned that “Failure to comply with posting regulations can lead to fines of up to $17,000.”
To make the mailers read as invoices that had to be paid, they cited multiple federal statutes and carried a “Business ID” number and a response deadline. The defendants are not part of and are not affiliated with any government agency.
The target selection is the point. A business that has just opened is exactly the business least certain about which government notices are real.
The take
The FTC alleged the defendants received more than $800,000 from more than 9,000 businesses, and charged them under the FTC Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The settlement and refunds
The operators agreed to pay $1.2 million and are banned from sending unsolicited direct mail. In July 2020, following work by the FTC and the Florida and Texas Attorneys General, the FTC mailed 26,817 checks of $40.80 each.
What is not established
The settlement resolves the allegations without any admission or finding of wrongdoing.
Sources
Every claim above rests on one of these. Open them and check.
- Enforcement action July 30, 2018
- Enforcement action July 16, 2020
- Enforcement action July 16, 2020
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First recorded July 30, 2018 · Last updated July 16, 2020