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News
“Get-Rich-Quick”
Scheme Banned from Iowa
Posted 9 May 2009
A New York City
promoter who claimed customers could make $25,000 in two weeks and
touted other get-rich-quick schemes was ordered Friday not to operate
in Iowa and to make a refund to any Iowan who asks for it.
“What caught our eye was that the so-called World Wealth Syndicate was
using a Beaver Avenue address in Des Moines to market its deceptive
schemes all over the country,” said Attorney General Tom Miller. [Go to
World Wealth Syndicate ads.]
“It was nothing but a mail drop-box,” Miller said, “but the Des Moines
address might wrongly induce some consumers to think the operation was
firmly planted in the heartland, and to let down their guard.”
Polk County District Court Judge D.J. Stovall entered an order Friday
permanently prohibiting Christopher Lamparello of New York, NY, from
marketing any of his programs in Iowa, and from using an Iowa mailing
address or implying any connection to Iowa that does not exist.
Lamparello operated as “World Wealth Syndicate,” “Publishing Company,
Inc.,” and “Pridemore Publishing Company, Inc.”
Judge Stovall also ordered Lamparello to make full refunds to any Iowa
customer who requested one in writing to the Attorney General’s
Consumer Protection Division, Hoover Bldg., 1305 East Walnut St., Des
Moines, IA 50319. (Call 515-281-5926, or 888-777-4590.)
The get-rich-quick programs usually sold for about $25-30. They were
marketed under names such as “Big Cash Flier,” “How I made $99 an
Hour,” “God Wants You to Be Rich,” and “$1,000 a Day!” Miller said his
office is aware of more than 150 Iowans who ordered Lamparello’s
programs.
“The so-called money-making opportunities didn’t cost a huge amount,
but they didn’t hold a prayer of success either,” Miller said. “They
probably preyed on people who were least likely to afford any loss --
people who are desperate and vulnerable in tough economic times.”< | | |
