HARRISBURG – Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a settlement with a Florida-based company and its owners for allegedly impersonating a Commonwealth agency as part of efforts to get money from owners of newly-registered Pennsylvania businesses.
The company will pay $40,000 in total restitution to impacted business owners.
PA Corporate Certificates, LLC, contacted Pennsylvania-based business owners to solicit purchases of a Subsistence Certificate, which is a legitimate document offered by the Pennsylvania Department of State (that costs $40), but it is often not necessary for many businesses.
PA Corporate Certificates inflated the price to $102.50 and collected payment from nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania business owners. To perpetrate the alleged scam, PA Corporate Certificates sent letters that appeared to be from the Pennsylvania Department of State and misrepresented the purpose or benefit of a Subsistence Certificate. Not all businesses who paid for a certificate actually received the certificate.
“Today’s settlement will return thousands of dollars to Pennsylvania business owners who paid for documentation they likely did not need,” Attorney General Sunday said. “New businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of our local economies and communities, and my Office will continue to take seriously any attempts to exploit them.”
The settlement, in the form of a Consent Petition, resolves a lawsuit against PA Corporate Certificates, LLC, and its owners – Brian Capobiano, Dean Marshlack, and David Marshlack.
PA Corporate Certificates has ceased operations in Pennsylvania and the settlement prevents the business or the individuals from operating in Pennsylvania, including soliciting for and/or engaging in the sale of certificates of subsistence.
“We thank the Attorney General for investigating and resolving this matter,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. “When the Department of State became aware of this issue, we immediately forwarded the information to the Office of Attorney General. We also alerted Pennsylvania businesses with a message on our website.
“Our Department has already supplied the Attorney General with the list of business owners who deserve restitution,” Schmidt added.
The Consent Petition was filed in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas and is pending approval of the Court.
Under its terms, this settlement agreement shall not be considered as an admission of violation of the law.
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