(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and the Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board (PUSTRCB) today notified the leaders of five major oil companies that his office is reviewing whether they should be required to pay back tens of millions of dollars in claims they made to a state fund intended to help gas station owners and operators, individuals, and state and local governments address contamination from underground petroleum storage tank systems.

The letters – sent to BP, Chevron, Sunoco, Marathon and Shell – call into question whether those companies improperly billed PUSTRCB and received compensation from the Ohio Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Fund while also receiving compensation on the same claims from their insurance carriers, which would violate Ohio law.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A particularly busy outdoor marijuana eradication season continues to unfold, according to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and his office’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI). The first six weeks of BCI’s Outdoor Marijuana Eradication program has now yielded more than 50,000 marijuana plants seized – more than was recovered in Ohio in all of 2009.

In the last two weeks of August alone, BCI’s eradication program seized more than 30,000 marijuana plants. In 2009, BCI counted 48,051 marijuana plants seized. Each of the last several years has seen a year-on-year increase: 40,158 plants were seized in 2008 and 37,835 in 2007.

(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) — In the year since Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray launched a new program to help small businesses and nonprofits recover dollars lost to deceptive business practices and scammers, more than 1,400 small businesses have sought assistance, resulting in the recovery or savings of more than $132,000.

“It’s clear that we have tapped into a need in the small business community,” said Cordray. “We have received complaints from businesses all over the state that were deceived or scammed. Many of those businesses have 20 or fewer employees and lack the resources to pursue disputes. Our office provided the required effort and leverage to right the wrongs of unscrupulous business practices.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a New York Federal District Court has issued an important ruling that will allow a major lawsuit to proceed against Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and various individual officers and directors.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Using a system designed to assist the hearing impaired, scammers are attempting to con Ohio small businesses out of money. According to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, his office is receiving complaints from businesses around the state that received calls from scammers abusing the telephone relay system.

“Several Ohio businesses have been targeted by the ploy,” Cordray said. “The businesses are receiving calls from scammers who are using the phone system in an attempt to gain immediate trust. The con artists usually pose as consumers interested in a product and then commit check fraud or use stolen credit cards to rip off the business. It is absolutely disgraceful that there are some who would abuse this very beneficial system. Businesses need to remain vigilant when accepting these orders.”

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced today that his office has received a federal grant that will help county sheriffs keep better track of registered sex offenders.

(YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio) — In the year since Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray launched a new program to help small businesses and nonprofits recover dollars lost to deceptive business practices and scammers, more than 1,400 small businesses have sought assistance, resulting in the recovery or savings of more than $132,000.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today offered the following statement in response to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that it will terminate its antitrust review of the proposed merger of Continental and United Airlines:

“Although today’s announcement of concessions by Continental relating to the Newark airport is a positive step for consumers nationwide, the multistate review of the proposed merger will continue. The states are not yet satisfied that the economic interests of our regions are protected adequately in the proposal as it stands today. We will continue our current investigation to ensure that state antitrust laws are not violated and that the economy in Ohio and other affected states will not suffer unnecessarily from the proposed merger. I am pleased that the merging parties have directly expressed to me their commitment to continue working cooperatively with the states as we proceed with our review.”