OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau announced today that
three individuals were arrested and charged under the misleading
representation and deceptive marketing practices provisions of the
Competition Act following unsolicited mailings for an Internet business
directory. Two corporations were also charged for the same alleged offences.
The three individuals and two corporations charged were Alan Benlolo, Elliot
Benlolo, Victor Serfaty, Yellow.com Business Pages Corp., and 1421628
Ontario Limited.
The charges relate to unsolicited mailings, dated December 15, 2000, which
were sent to close to a quarter of a million businesses and charities in the
Province of Quebec during the month of December 2000.
Eight charges were also previously laid against these same parties in
November 2000 regarding similar mail pieces that were primarily directed to
businesses and charities in other parts of Canada. The first court
appearance of the accused will be February 6, 2001 at the Old City Hall
Court House in Toronto.
The mailings asked recipients to send a payment to a Postal Box in the
Toronto area for an Internet business directory, Yellow Business
Directory.com, that listed the details of their organizations. The
misleading representation charges allege the mailings were made to appear as
invoices or bills when they were in fact solicitations. It is also alleged
that recipients were misled to think that they were already customers of the
Internet business directory.
“The Bureau has now received over 4000 complaints from businesses and
non-profit organizations across Canada regarding the mailings,” said Raymond
Pierce, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Fair Business Practices Branch.
“Investigating deceptive mailings is a priority of the Bureau and will be
vigorously pursued.”
The Competition Bureau has, in addition, applied to the Canada Post
Corporation for interim prohibitory orders prohibiting the delivery of mail
addressed to or posted by the companies and persons operating the Internet
business directory. As a result interim prohibitory orders were issued.
The arrests of the individuals were done with the co-operation of the
Toronto Police Service. This cooperation was the result of the “Toronto
Strategic Partnership” between the Toronto Police Service; the Ontario
Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations; the Competition Bureau; the
United States Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection; and
the United States Postal Inspection Service. These agencies support each
other’s law enforcement actions against persons and entities that engage in
various types of deceptive marketing practices.
