Competition Bureau Investigation Leads to Guilty Pleas for Deceptive Telemarketing Practices

Ottawa, November 30, 2009 — Three people have pleaded guilty to deceptive telemarketing charges related to the promotion of business directories and listing in such directories. Between October 28, 2003, and February 23, 2005, the telemarketers, who were promoting a directory on CD with information on various organizations and businesses, contacted small and medium businesses. The telemarketers acted in such a way that their victims thought that they were already clients of the telemarketing company or that the product would be provided to them at no charge. However, the victims received an invoice if they kept the CD or, if they returned it, had to pay separate fees. Byron Steczko, Ahn-Phong Vo and Cory Kornelson were charged on February 27, 2008 under the telemarketing provisions of the Competition Act. In addition to a six-month conditional sentence, accompanied by severe curfew conditions, these individuals will also be prohibited from engaging in telemarketing for 10 years. A Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for a fourth accused, Hiep Manh (Ty) Nguyen, who failed to appear in Court.

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