In an effort to protect Missouri consumers and enforce the laws as written, Missouri Attorney General Bailey joined a coalition of seven states in shutting down a massive robocaller operation involving John Caldwell Spiller II and his business partner Jakob Mears, the owners of Texas-based Rising Eagle Capital Group LLC and JSquared Telecom LLC, as well as Rising Eagle Capital Group–Cayman. The defendants blasted billions of illegal robocalls to people across the country.
“As Attorney General, I want to enforce the laws as written, which includes holding those who illegally plague Missourians with unwanted phone calls accountable,” said Attorney General Bailey. “People have a right to be free from that type of contact and communication, as codified in state law. I’m proud of this win our Consumer Protection unit has delivered for the people of Missouri, and we will continue to use every legal tool at our disposal to halt these unlawful robocalls." The attorneys general sued the defendants in June 2020 alleging violations of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, as well as various state consumer protection laws. The complaint alleged that defendants used their companies to bombard people with deceptive robocalls, including extended car warranties and health care services. They also spoofed calls to mislead people and called people on the Do Not Call list. Mears and Spiller are now permanently banned from initiating or facilitating any robocalls, working in or with companies that make robocalls, and engaging in any telemarketing. The court also ordered monetary judgements totaling $244,658,640 for Spiller and Mears combined, though these payments will be largely suspended in favor of the permanent operational bans and because of their inability to pay. Attorney General Bailey is joined in today’s settlements by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Texas. Just recently announced by Attorney General Bailey, Missourians have been bombarded with robocalls – the Missouri Attorney General’s Office received over 39,000 complaints from consumers whose numbers were on the Do Not Call Registry in 2022 alone. Missourians who receive unwanted calls can fill out the form to be placed on both the federal and state No-Call List at ago.mo.gov and can report violations of this list at (800) 392-8222.
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