COMPANY ORDERED INTO RECEIVERSHIP.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

A Thousand Oaks office supply company was ordered into receivership Wednesday after Ventura County prosecutors accused the owners of running a telemarketing scam to sell photocopy toner at inflated prices.

Prosecutors say more than 150 businesses in Ventura County have been targeted by telemarketers of Express Office Supply, who portray themselves as the companies' regular toner supplier, but who then sell the material for up to four times its actual cost.

``It's a widespread scam that preys on the fact that many people in business are not familiar with their usual vendor or actual prices,'' said Deputy District Attorney Mitchell Disney. ``It's actually pretty rampant.''

The consumer protection division of the District Attorney's Office filed a civil suit Tuesday, claiming that a Moorpark couple and two Los Angeles men swindled customers under the auspices of Express Office Supply.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane issued a temporary restraining order and ordered a court-appointed receiver to take control of the business. The order ends a yearlong investigation that Disney said could lead to criminal charges.

Company President Mark Footitt is identified in the complaint as using the ``telephonic aliases'' of Jim Parker and Bob Burns. Calls to a listed phone number for Footitt - which was answered by a recorded message identifying Jim Parker - were not returned Wednesday. A number for the parent company of CTF Enterprises in Thousand Oaks had been disconnected.

Authorities estimate that similar schemes generate more than $200 million a year in California. Telemarketers typically make ``cold calls'' to businesses portraying themselves as the regular supplier of the material, Disney said. If the toner is ordered, a professional ``reloader'' solicits additional and larger orders.

One victim named in the civil suit claims she was tricked into ordering 39 toners for one machine during a one-year period, paying Express Office Supply more than $12,000, Disney said.

The district attorney executed a search warrant at businesses in Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica and San Diego in July. Disney said the search turned up more than 30 boxes containing victim files, letters of complaint to better business bureaus and tape recordings of telephone calls.

Footitt is also named as a principal in a telemarketing company under court judgment for telemarketing fraud in Yolo County, Disney said.