The FTC claims the Supreme Court’s AMG decision has cost consumer a staggering $1.5 billion.

The losses were realized through various fraudulent schemes, with the AMG decision leaving the FTC unable to effectively hold scammers accountable.

If you’re unaware of the
Supreme Court’s AMG decision
or need a refresh, in a nutshell the FTC went after payday loan scammers.

The scammers took the case to the Supreme Court, who in April 2021 ruled the FTC are unable to recovery monetary remedies through FTC Act rule 13(b).

Monetary remedies being everything the FTC can do to hit scammers they prevail against in their hip-pockets. Damages, civil penalties, disgorgement, restitution etc.

The regulator had been using 13(b) against scammers for forty years without issue. As they now stand, the FTC’s MLM cases we’re tracking have gotten significantly more complicated.

Even if they lose an FTC case, scammers are getting away with millions in defrauded consumer funds.

FTC Commissioner Kelly Slaughter (yes that’s her actual name), joined by FTC Chair Lina Khan, addressed the current post-AMG environment in a
May 31st statement
.

The Supreme Court’s ruling eliminated the Commission’s primary and best tool to seek monetary remedies when a company violates the FTC Act.

This tool, referred to by its statutory provision as Section 13(b), enabled the FTC to provide billions of dollars of relief—$11.2 billion from 2016 to 2022—in a broad range of cases including telemarketing fraud, anticompetitive pharmaceutical practices, data security and privacy and scams targeting seniors and veterans.

In the year since the Court ruled that we lack the ability to obtain monetary relief under Section 13(b), the FTC has confronted two predictable outcomes: consumers who were wronged are not getting money back and corporate wrong-doers are emboldened.

Cited cases the FTC won but couldn’t punish defendants appropriately include:

A fraudulent investment scheme defrauded consumers out of “at least $137 million”.

The FTC won the case but was only able to recover $2.4 million because, after losing 13(b), they were forced to negotiate a settlement.

A loan company defrauded consumers out of “over $1.5 billion”. After losing 13(b) the FTC was again forced to negotiate a settlement, securing only $18 million for consumer redress.

The loan company got to keep the rest.

A pharmaceutical company defrauded consumers through inflated drug prices to the tune of $493 million.

The FTC took the company to court. The court denied monetary relief as per the AMG decision and the company was thus

able to keep their nearly $500 million in illegal proceeds, and consumers received not one dollar back.

And on and on it goes.

By conservative estimates, AMG has caused consumers to already lose out on more than $1.5 billion of relief that the agency previously could have obtained under Section 13(b), and the losses increase with each passing day.

In the MLM industry we have FTC v. Redwood S

🤖 Quick Answer

What is the FTC's AMG Supreme Court decision?
In April 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the FTC cannot recover monetary remedies under FTC Act Section 13(b). This decision prevents the agency from obtaining damages, civil penalties, disgorgement, and restitution against fraudsters, significantly limiting enforcement capabilities the FTC had exercised for forty years.

How much consumer harm resulted from the AMG decision?
According to FTC claims, the AMG Supreme Court decision has cost consumers over $1.5 billion through various fraudulent schemes. The ruling left the FTC unable to effectively hold scammers accountable and recover funds for victims affected by consumer fraud.

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