On June 4, a South Florida grand jury indicted the owners of what the government calls "a telemarketing business." The defendants face 20 counts of criminal contempt for violating a consent order with the Department of Justice. In 2000, the defendants, John and Terri Salley, agreed that they would not violate the FTC Rule or misrepresent facts to franchisees. A copy of the consent order is available here. According to the government, after entering into the order, the Salleys continued to sell coffee franchises through Worldwide Coffee, Salley's Coffee and other brands. They also violated the FTC Rule by failing to provide certain disclosures required by the FTC and by failing to disclose felony convictions and bankruptcies. The court ordered Jeffrey Salley to be detained pending the pre-trial hearing and ordered Terri Salley to post a bond of $100,000. A copy of the DOJ's press release is available here.
Posted by franchiselawblog at June 18, 2004 02:29 PM