(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said today that he is encouraged by a civil enforcement action alleging securities fraud filed yesterday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Bank of America and that bank’s former CEO Kenneth Lewis and former CFO Joseph Price.

Last September, General Cordray, in concert with five public pension funds, filed a similar shareholder class action lawsuit alleging securities violations based on many of the same alleged facts at issue in General Cuomo’s lawsuit. The suit filed by Cordray and other public pension funds is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today certified the summary language submitted in a January 27, 2010 initiative petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution.  That petition stated the amendment would “require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt certain minimum standards that will prevent the cruel and inhumane treatment of farm animals, enhance food safety, and strengthen Ohio family farms.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray this week named United Law Group, Inc. (ULG), a California law firm founded by California attorney Sean Alan Rutledge, in a lawsuit for bilking Ohioans who faced foreclosure out of thousands of dollars. The lawsuit alleges that the law firm promised foreclosure rescue and legal services to save homes and collected upfront fees but failed to deliver.  In at least one instance a consumer was forced into foreclosure. ULG’s attorneys are not licensed to practice law in Ohio and never filed any court documents or provided legal representation on behalf of their clients.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — For the first time in Ohio, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection section has opened its doors to handle complaints from small businesses being preyed upon by scammers and deceptive vendors.

“Businesses with fewer than 20 employees create half of the jobs in the state. We know they are often targeted by scammers, but before today they did not have recourse through our office against this epidemic of predatory practices,” said Cordray. “For Ohio’s economy to prosper and sustain our families and communities, we have to support and grow small businesses. This is another way for us to help level the playing field for small business.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – A Columbus-based collision repair shop routinely failed to deliver, performed shoddy work and violated the Do Not Call law, according to a lawsuit filed today by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. The complaint, filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, charges Mid-Ohio Collision LLC (Mid-Ohio) and its owner, Dominic Cimino, with multiple violations of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) and Do Not Call law.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced the arrests of four individuals in connection with an ongoing investigation into suspected health care fraud at Three Rivers Infusion and Pharmacy Specialists (Three Rivers) in Coshocton.

(BARBERTON, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Barberton Mayor Bob Genet are warning city residents of a new scam targeting their region.

Some Barberton area residents have recently received flyers titled, “Five facts about Water Line Service Coverage.” The advertisement implies that homeowners need water line service coverage and requests payment of $59.88 by credit card, E-Z pay checking or money order. By design, the flyer appears to be endorsed by the state of Ohio and city of Barberton, but officials warn that it is not.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — In a letter this week to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila C. Bair, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Acting Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision John Bowman and Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray joins 23 other state attorneys general in asking for further support on behalf of community banks.

In the letter, the attorneys general ask the federal agencies to make every effort to fairly regulate community banks as these banks continue to weather the economic crisis. Noting that the federal government’s recent recovery programs have focused primarily on large banks, the letter states, “it is essential that the problems facing community banks also receive due attention.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today was handed a favorable decision by the Ohio Supreme Court in a case involving a law that would protect children from receiving obscene material online.

“This law is an important tool for local law enforcement’s ongoing efforts to combat sexual predators’ use of the Internet and other electronic communications to prey on our young people,” said Attorney General Cordray. “I am pleased that the Ohio Supreme Court agreed with our reading of the statute, and I believe that our understanding of the law means that it is constitutional.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 16 other state attorneys general in a settlement with Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc., requiring the companies to make major concessions in order to close a proposed merger announced early last year. 

In a complaint also filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, DOJ and the states allege that the pending merger, if closed without concessions, would violate antitrust laws because it would eliminate head-to-head competition between the two largest ticket servicing companies in the United States.  The merger also would create an entertainment powerhouse that would dominate the industry through multiple business segments including ticket sales, concert promotion, artist management and venue ownership.