FIRM PLEADS NO CONTEST IN BILL SCHEME.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer A Texas company charged with defrauding thousands of San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. residents in an over half-million-dollar telephone-billing scheme pleaded no contest Tuesday to 25 misdemeanor counts of submitting false bills. Dallas-based long-distance reseller FTC FTC See Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Long Distance had been charged with billing 30,664 Valley customers for a monthly service charge of $8.99 without their authorization, amounting to more than $500,000. The company was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and restitution In the context of Criminal Law, state programs under which an offender is required, as a condition of his or her sentence, to repay money or donate services to the victim or society; with respect to maritime law, the restoration of articles lost by jettison, done when the to any California consumer who was wrongly billed, said Greg Parham, deputy city attorney in the consumer protection section. In addition, the company was prohibited from billing consumers who have not been independently verified to be company customers, he said. Also, the FTC may charge only rates authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, , he said. The company, which was also placed on five years' probation, may have already paid up to $350,000 in restitution thus far, Parham said. ``We believe the total amount still owed to California consumers is between $150,000 and $200,000,'' he said. The final amount will be determined at a Sept. 30 hearing in Division 14 of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Municipal Court, he said. Authorities are still trying to extradite ex·tra·dite v. ex·tra·dit·ed, ex·tra·dit·ing, ex·tra·dites v.tr. 1. To give up or deliver (a fugitive, for example) to the legal jurisdiction of another government or authority. 2. company President Manuel Zepeda from Texas, Parham said. ``In this case an individual needs to be made responsible for these crimes, and that individual is Mr. Zepeda,'' he said. Zepeda and his lawyer were unavailable for comment Tuesday. |
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