Director of Yellowbusiness.ca pleads guilty to deceiving Canadian businesses

OTTAWA, May 28, 2002 — Peter Kuryliw, the sole Director of 1473253 Ontario Incorporated, operating as Yellowbusiness.ca, pleaded guilty today to targeting over 40,000 business and non-profit organizations with a deceptive mailout for an Internet directory. The guilty plea results from an investigation by the Competition Bureau into Mr. Kuryliw and several other parties under the misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act. The investigation into the other parties is ongoing.

The mailout, dated May 25, 2001, asked recipients to send a payment to a postal box in the Toronto area for an Internet business directory that listed the details of their organizations. Bureau investigators found the mailings were made to appear as invoices from an existing service provider, such as Bell Canada or the Yellow Pages, requiring recipients to pay $85.55 when in fact they weren't customers.

The investigation in this case included the seizure by the Bureau and by Canada Post of mail containing an estimated $700,000 in payments for the fraudulently deceptive mail pieces.

"These invoices duped companies into believing they were customers of a service they never purchased when in fact the mailout was simply a business solicitation," said Raymond Pierce, Deputy Commissioner, Fair Business Practices Branch. "Deceptive practices of this nature will be vigorously pursued by the Bureau."

Mr. Kuryliw and 1473253 Ontario Incorporated were both charged in May 2001 with one count of making a false or misleading representation. Today, Mr. Kuryliw pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice – Toronto District and was fined $30,000. He was given 90 days to pay the fine and to dissolve 1473253 Ontario Incorporated.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality service. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.

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