HELENA, Mont. — A Montana family and their accountant are accused of tacking $70 million in bogus charges onto customer phone bills nationwide, then funneling some of that money through a religious organization to buy land and pay for the husband’s legal bills.
Steven Sann, his wife Terry, son Nathan and accountant Robert Braach run a maze of nine companies engaged in “cramming,” or adding unauthorized charges to a customer’s phone bill, according to a civil complaint filed this month by the Federal Trade Commission.
When customers complained or phone companies grew suspicious about charges one of the Sanns’ companies put on phone bills, they would switch over to another company, the complaint says.
The FTC is asking a judge to issue a preliminary injunction that will force the Sanns to stop operating the companies and freeze their assets. In a court filing Friday, Sann’s attorney, Sarah Rhoades, asked U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen for a stay in FTC civil action, saying there is a criminal investigation already under way.
Allowing the government to pursue both criminal and civil cases against Sann and his companies is improper, Rhoades said in the filing. The civil case would let the government examine company information that it is not entitled to under criminal procedure rules, she wrote.
Some of the money went to buy 94 acres in western Montana where Steven Sann runs a youth camp, the FTC alleges. Some went to pay for Sann’s defense in an unrelated medical marijuana case. In those instances, the money first was deposited in the bank account of Bibliologic, a religious organization set up by Sann and Braach.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 01/22/2013