This bit from the Atlanta Journal Constitution shares more details on the case:
"From June 2004 to December 2008, United Directories deposited about $425 million into bank accounts -- all of the money from businesses submitting payments for ads, Johnson said. The company did in fact publish an advertising directory. In 2008, the company received payments from about 162,000 businesses, yet its directory contained only about 55,000 business names, Johnson said.
According to the criminal complaint, United Directories also misled businesses into thinking they were paying to renew advertisements in the actual Yellow Pages directory."
Comments
This bit from the Atlanta Journal Constitution shares more details on the case:
"From June 2004 to December 2008, United Directories deposited about $425 million into bank accounts -- all of the money from businesses submitting payments for ads, Johnson said. The company did in fact publish an advertising directory. In 2008, the company received payments from about 162,000 businesses, yet its directory contained only about 55,000 business names, Johnson said.
According to the criminal complaint, United Directories also misled businesses into thinking they were paying to renew advertisements in the actual Yellow Pages directory."
Wow. If the association with Hashrocket continues, Hashrocket's name is toast. I feel sorry for Obie.
The scale of the operation is impressive, though. If some of those accounts were personal, they made some serious bank.