News/Events

Says, ‘Bailey exploited an Arkansas mother who borrowed money from Bailey to pay for son’s funeral expenses’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced that a lawsuit has been filed against Dennis Bailey and the businesses he controls: Bailey’s Superstore, Inc., Bailey’s Bottleshoppe, Brooks Bailey Enterprises, Inc., Bailey’s On Main, Bailey’s Pawn and Gun, Newsmart Liquor, The Executive, Inc., and Juke Box Saturday Night. The complaint was filed against Bailey and his businesses under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act for his illegal use of the criminal court system to collect debts.

“Bailey and his businesses illegally took advantage of vulnerable Arkansans who needed money to pay their bills or for emergencies,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “In one case, Bailey exploited an Arkansas mother who borrowed money from Bailey to pay for her son’s funeral expenses. These are unacceptable business practices, and I will continue to do the fighting for consumers.”

Bailey loaned large amounts of money to his customers, and as security for the loans Bailey accepted a signed blank check. When the debt was due, consumers could buy the blank check back for the cost of the original loan plus interest. If the consumer were unable to pay the debt on time, Bailey would add the principal and interest together, enter it as the amount to be paid on the check, and deposit it into one of his business bank accounts. If the check returned unpaid by the bank, Bailey turned those checks over to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for enforcement under Arkansas’s Hot Check Law despite the law’s clear prohibition against its use for collection of pre-existing debts. In Fordyce, when consumers do not repay Bailey’s loans on time, consumers can go to jail if convicted.

Rutledge is asking the court to impose civil penalties, restitution, attorneys’ fees, costs and other injunctive relief against Bailey and companies.

Says, ‘appalling and unrestrained criminal conduct underscores our decision to charge him’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announces Dr. John Durmon, 59, of Warren, pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid Fraud, class A felony. He has been ordered to pay $33,383.05 in restitution along with a triple penalty of $100,149.15 by Monday, July 29. He also owes fines and court costs of $2,500 and is suspended from the Medicaid program for five years.

“Durmon’s plea based on his appalling and unrestrained criminal conduct underscores our decision to charge him for Medicaid fraud,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “We must stop this type of corruption with taxpayer dollars.”

Durmon submitted 2,557 claims for X-rays for 85 Medicaid recipients from October 2016 through December 2017. Records indicate Durmon had not properly taken, developed, used or maintained X-rays as required by Medicaid program regulations. Durmon was paid a total of $153,077.95 for the claims.

Also, Durmon submitted 637 claims for various dental services, including extractions, amalgam and resin composite fillings for 33 Medicaid recipients from September 2015 through December 2017. Records indicate Durmon charged the Medicaid program for those services, but the services were not provided. Durmon was paid a total of $33,383.05 for the claims.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced mobile office locations for August.

Attorney General Rutledge created this initiative during her first year in office to increase office accessibility for all Arkansans, particularly to those who live outside the capital city. Office hours were held in all 75 counties each year during her first term, assisting 3,300 Arkansans. In 2019, Attorney General Mobile Offices have already served over 1,400 Arkansans.

Rutledge believes face-to-face conversations are the best way to truly hear from Arkansans. The Attorney General Mobile Offices assist constituents with consumer related issues by filing consumer complaints against scam artists as well as answering questions about the office and the other services it offers to constituents.

Rutledge continues her partnerships with the Cooperative Extension Service and local law enforcement across Arkansas. Law enforcement officials will be on hand to collect unused and expired prescription medications to ensure they are secured and properly disposed. Arkansans are encouraged to bring their old, unused or expired prescription medications to an upcoming mobile office. During Rutledge’s first term, over 618 pounds of medications were collected at mobile offices. Another 167 pounds of medications have been collected so far this year.

Settlement to bring $2.5 million to State for harm to Arkansans

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced a $2,521,481.31 settlement from Equifax for the largest-ever breach of consumer data, exposing the data of 56 percent of American adults. The investigation into the 2017 data breach found that Equifax’s failure to maintain a reasonable security system enabled hackers to penetrate its systems. Attorney General Rutledge and a coalition of 49 other Attorneys General, comprising 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reached a settlement with Equifax.

“Arkansans trusted Equifax with their personal information as a means to track their credit scores,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “We are holding the company accountable for its failure to safeguard personal information.”

The coalition secured a settlement with Equifax that includes a Consumer Restitution Fund of up to $425 million, a $175 million payment to the states, and injunctive relief, which also includes a significant financial commitment. The settlement fund for affected consumers will provide up to 10 years of free credit monitoring and identity theft services, and reimburse affected consumers for time and money spent trying to avoid or recover from identity theft.

Equifax has also agreed to take several steps to assist consumers who are either facing identity theft issues or who have already had their identities stolen, including:

• Making it easier for consumers to freeze and thaw their credit and dispute inaccurate information in credit reports;
• Requiring Equifax to maintain sufficient staff dedicated to assisting consumers who may be victims of identity theft;
• Restructuring its data security team and performing regular security monitoring, logging and testing;
• Minimizing its collection of sensitive data and the use of consumers’ social security numbers;
• Reorganizing and segmenting its network including employing improved access control and account management tools;
• Reorganizing its patch management team and employing new policies regarding the identification and deployment of critical security updates and patches.

On September 7, 2017, Equifax announced a data breach affecting more than 147 million consumers. Breached information included social security numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, credit card numbers, and in some cases, driver’s license numbers.

Shortly after, a coalition that grew to 50 attorneys general launched a multi-state investigation into the breach. The investigation found that the breach occurred because Equifax failed to implement an adequate security program to protect consumers’ highly sensitive personal information. Despite knowing about a critical vulnerability in its software, Equifax failed to fully patch its systems. Moreover, Equifax failed to replace software that monitored the breached network for suspicious activity. As a result, the attackers penetrated Equifax’s system and went unnoticed for 76 days