by Dan Starcher | Feb 1, 2021 | Blog
COLUMBUS, OH, Feb. 1, 2021 — FirstEnergy agrees to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s demands that the company stops using a clause in House Bill 6 that would have cost its customers an extra $102 million this year.
The out-of-court settlement ends a guaranteed profit rider which is in addition to the $150 million nuclear bailouts also contained in HB6 that Yost blocked in December with court action. Altogether, General Yost’s court actions are projected to save Ohioans nearly $2 billion over the years House Bill 6 would have been effective. FirstEnergy is expected to present the settlement to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on Monday for implementation.
“Under its now removed prior leadership, FirstEnergy built a feeding trough that it thought would guarantee it record profits year after year, filled with unearned money out of Ohioan’s pockets,” Yost said. “This agreement recognizes the corrupt influence used to guarantee a for-profit company above-market returns for years to come by operation of law.”
The settlement comes in response to a motion Yost filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in January seeking to block FirstEnergy from using a decoupling provision contained in HB6. The provision, as written, allowed FirstEnergy to adjust rates to ensure it made at least $978 million a year going forward. That benchmark came from 2018 when a cold winter and a scorching summer combined to boost FirstEnergy’s revenue to a record $978 million.
To avoid court action, FirstEnergy has agreed to AG Yost’s following terms:
- FirstEnergy utilities will file an emergency application with PUCO on Monday, Feb. 1 to immediately set the decoupling rider to $0.
- PUCO will then need to hold a meeting to approve the application.
- Once FirstEnergy confirms the rates are no longer being charged, Yost will withdraw the court motion.
The remainder of the case will remain before the Court, but the parties agree to stay further proceedings pending the end of the federal criminal trials.
by Dan Starcher | Jan 14, 2021 | Blog
COLUMBUS, OH, Jan. 14, 2021 — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has agreed to a multistate settlement with an organization that claimed to help wounded veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead lined the pockets of the family behind the charity.
Healing Heroes, based in Florida, and its founders, Stacey and Allan Spiegel and their son Neal Spiegel, agreed to settle with 11 states where they solicited donations with bogus promises and misleading fundraisers.
“Ohioans always answer the call when our veterans need help and thought they were doing so here,” Yost said. “But this wasn’t a charity. It was disgraceful sham and we shut it down.”
Hero Giveaways, LLC, the business behind the charity formed by the Spiegel family became the subject of a multistate investigation into its use of deceptive charitable solicitations including misleading sweepstakes mailers and telemarketing campaign. The investigation by Yost’s Charitable Law Section revealed that Ohio donors contributed an estimated $525,544 between 2015-2017 as a result of deceptive sweepstakes mailers and telephone solicitations.
The organization promised to use donations to help wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan receive medical treatments that the Department of Veterans Affairs did not readily provide. The charity also falsely claimed on social media in 2016 and 2017 to dedicate 100% of proceeds to wounded veterans. The investigation revealed that very little of the charitable contributions received by the Healing Heroes Network, Inc. were used to further that charitable mission.
Instead, donations were used to pay professional fundraisers, on-line advertising fees, the salaries of Stacey Spiegel and her son, Neal Spiegel, and to purchase t-shirts from another family’s member’s t-shirt business. The settlement announced today requires Healing Heroes Network, Inc. and Hero Giveaways, LLC to permanently cease all charitable solicitations, and the Spiegel family has agreed to pay $95,000.00 in monetary damages.
The money will go to a veterans’ charity whose mission matches the representations made by Healing Heroes Network, Inc. when they were soliciting donations from the public.
The Spiegels are also subject to a five-year ban from overseeing, managing, or soliciting charitable contributions for any nonprofit organization.
Ohio, along with Florida, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, California, Virginia and Washington are part of the settlement agreement announced this week.
This legal action is part of Operation Donate With Honor, a nationwide consumer protection law enforcement program to combat veterans’ fundraising fraud through education and enforcement. Operation Donate with Honor was coordinated in 2018 by the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of State Charities Officials. The program targets fraudulent charities and groups that claimed to be helping veterans, but instead enrich the charities’ founders and professional fundraisers.
When donating, please consider the following tips to help ensure your money goes to the charitable purpose you intend.
When you receive a request to donate money, ask questions.
- Ask for the charity’s name and web address.
- Where is its physical location, phone number, and types of programs run by the charity?
- How much of the donated money supports the programs you want to support?
- Avoid paying with cash, gift cards, or wire transfers. Payment by these methods is difficult to track and therefore, difficult to recover.
- Consider donating by using a credit card, which tends to be more secure and trackable.
- Restrict your giving to organizations that you have personal knowledge of the programs provided or to develop a giving plan that defines in advance what groups you want to support during the year
If the charity is unwilling to answer your questions, that is a red flag. Attorney General Yost also has a searchable database of registered charities in the state, as well as resources to file a complaint.
Additional research of charities can be found at charitywatch.org and give.org.
by Dan Starcher | Dec 17, 2020 | Blog
COLUMBUS, OH, Dec. 17, 2020 — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today joined a bipartisan coalition of 37 other attorneys general in suing Google LLC for anticompetitive conduct in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
The states allege that Google illegally maintains its monopoly power over general search engines and related advertising markets through a series of anticompetitive exclusionary contracts and conduct. As a result, Google has deprived consumers of competition that could lead to greater choice, innovation, and better privacy protections. Furthermore, Google has exploited its market position to accumulate and leverage data to the detriment of consumers.
“Exclusion and discrimination are by their nature anti-competitive,” Yost said. “When you add those tactics to Google’s dominance, you’re stepping on the market, not competing in it.”
The states’ complaint is consistent with the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on October 20, which alleged that Google improperly maintains its monopoly power in general search and search advertising through the use of exclusionary agreements.
But the state’s filing asserts additional allegations and describes Google’s monopoly maintenance scheme as a multi-part effort. The lawsuit alleges that Google:
Uses exclusionary agreements and other practices to limit the ability of rival general search engines and potential rivals to reach consumers. This conduct cements Google as the go-to search engine on computers and mobile devices.
Discriminates against specialized search sites – such as those that provide travel, home repair, or entertainment services – by depriving them access to prime real estate on the search results screen because these competing sites threaten Google’s revenue and dominant position.
Disadvantages users of its search-advertising management tool, SA360, by continuously favoring advertising on its own platform and inflating its profits to the detriment of advertisers and consumers, despite its promises to the contrary that it would not favor Google search advertising over that of competing search engines such as Bing.
The attorneys general argue that more competition in the general search engine market would benefit consumers, for example, though improved privacy protections and more targeted results and opportunities for consumers. Competitive general search engines also could offer better quality advertising and lower prices to advertisers.
The attorneys general expand on the U.S. DOJ’s allegation that Google’s anticompetitive conduct continues. As explained in the complaint, the company seeks to deploy the same exclusionary contracting tactics to monopolize the emerging ways consumers access general search engines, such as through their home smart speakers, televisions, or in their cars. In so doing, Google is depriving consumers of competitive choices and blocking innovation.
The states also go further than the U.S. DOJ in explaining how Google’s acquisition and command of vast amounts of data – obtained in increasing part because of consumers’ lack of choice – has fortified Google’s monopoly and created significant barriers for potential competitors and innovators.
The attorneys general ask the court to halt Google’s illegal conduct and restore a competitive marketplace. The states also seek to unwind any advantages that Google gained as a result of its anticompetitive conduct, including divestiture of assets as appropriate. Finally, the court is asked to provide any additional relief it determines appropriate, as well as reasonable fees and costs to the states.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in conjunction with a Motion to Consolidate seeking to combine the states’ case with the pending U.S. DOJ case.
The attorneys general joining the lawsuit include the states and territories of: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico.
by Dan Starcher | Dec 15, 2020 | Blog
COLUMBUS, OH, Dec.15, 2020 — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is cautioning Ohioans to look out for COVID-19 vaccine-related scams that will occur as the vaccine is distributed beginning this week.
“A single dose of information can vaccinate you against fraud,” Yost said.
For example, consumers could see scammers impersonating distributors, providers, or local health department claiming to need personal information such as a Social Security number to get on a list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Other scammers could pretend to be able to help consumers jump to the front of the line to get a vaccine, but ask for advanced payment to secure their place in line. These communications could come through email, phone calls, postal mail, text message, or even through social media accounts.
Do not fall for these scams.
Also, reports indicate that cards may be distributed to consumers that have been provided the first dose of a two-dose vaccine. These will likely be used to simply remind consumers to get their second dose, not as official “passports” to gain entry into bars, restaurants, or other public areas, or to bypass public health orders. Therefore, any attempts to buy these cards will be fruitless.
Do not fall for these scams.
Early in 2020, published reports warned consumers to have their guard up when going online to receive information for products and services designed to help protect against COVID-19. In reality, computer hackers were reportedly sending spam emails with links that were designed to infect consumers’ computers with malicious software, some of which may steal personal information or passwords stored on their devices.
Within the first week of the COVID-19 lockdown in March, scammers started emailing, calling, and texting Ohioans trying to steal their identity or money, according to data from Yost’s Constituent Services Section.
Some of those scams asked people to pay for advice on how to treat COVID-19, pay for access to care and to give personal information in order to get medication or prevent infection.
To date, Yost’s office has received 39 complaints of potential COVID-19-related scams.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office recommends several tips to help consumers avoid potential virus and vaccine-related scams:
Verify any vaccine-related information with legitimate news reports. Double-check any new “too-good-to-be-true” news or claims. You may wish to consider contacting your family doctor, your local health department, or the statewide Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 call center (1-833-427-5634) to check on issues you are unsure about.
Look for some of the red flags of a scam, such as being asked to wire money or send a prepaid money card or gift card to a stranger; being pressured to act immediately, or being told to buy a product or service where the company refuses to provide any information in writing. Also, look out if you’re asked to keep conversations a secret.
You likely will not need to pay anything out of pocket to get the vaccine during this public health emergency. You can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine. You can’t pay to get early access to the vaccine.
No one from a vaccine distribution site or health care payer, like a private insurance company, will call you asking for your Social Security number or your credit card or bank account information to sign you up to get the vaccine.
Consumers who suspect an unfair business practice or want help addressing a consumer problem should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioProtects.org or 800-282-0515.
by Dan Starcher | Nov 30, 2020 | Blog
COLUMBUS, OH, Nov. 30, 2020 — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has joined a coalition of attorneys general representing 43 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories, urging Congress to extend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy (CARES) Act funding until the end of 2021.
The effort is being led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who wrote the letter signed by 49 the attorneys general and sent it to Congress today urging members to extend the December 30, 2020, deadline.
“The original need has not gone away, it’s become even more urgent,” Yost said. “Let’s not let the clock run out.”
With several pending measures, including bipartisan extension measures in both the House and Senate, the attorneys general urge Congress to pass one of these measures to give states and local communities additional time to utilize the precious COVID-relief resources.
COVID-19 has negatively impacted nearly every facet of American society. In anticipation of unprecedented costs and economic disruption stemming from the pandemic, Congress passed the CARES Act in March. The move provided more than $2 trillion in economic stimulus to state and local governments in an effort to combat the impacts of the pandemic.
One of the restrictions placed on the funding, however, limits the money’s use to expenses incurred between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020.
“This time frame likely made sense in late March when the CARES Act was passed, but we have learned a great deal about COVID-19 in the past seven months,” the letter states. “Among other things, we know that the pandemic will continue to challenge communities well beyond December 30, 2020 – a deadline that now seems unreasonable.”
As the pandemic continues to set record infections, states and local communities will continue to incur COVID-related expenses next year. By extending the deadline, communities nationwide will be able to be more strategic with the use of CARES Act funds, the attorneys general said.
The letter was signed by attorneys general in Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Posted by By Dan Starcher, public communications specialist for the Wayne County government
