jokach
January 19th, 2006, 07:29 PM
Our friend David Harris from the TownOnline.com newspaper is reporting in his latest article that Nepco has officially been shut down by the AG's office, its assets frozen and ordered to turn over all its records as of last Friday.
Reposted from:
http://www2.townonline.com/roslindale/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=409960&format=&page=1
Here is the story:
Web site with WR roots forced to close
By David L. Harris/ Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006
A Web site owned by a former West Roxbury resident that allegedly bilked hundreds of British customers out of an untold amount of money was put out of business last week by the attorney general’s office.
British consumers alleged Nepco, whose chief executive is a former West Roxbury resident, had failed to ship merchandise, specifically Playstations and digital cameras; overcharged them; and sold them products with only American compatibility.
Attorney General Tom Reilly’s office shut down the company, froze its assets and required the company to turn over all of its records last Friday after the sites inexplicably went down sometime last week.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday, according to Sarah Nathan, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.
Officials from the company, Nepco, now based in Waltham, didn’t return multiple phone messages by the Transcript’s deadline.
Steve Cooke, distribution center manager for the Swiss-based third-party logistics company that took care of warehousing and shipping for Nepco, declined to comment, saying only, "They’re a customer of ours."
Nepco, which was started by Jeremy Paradies, a former West Roxbury resident who registered a series of sites using his former Anderer Lane address in West Roxbury, owns sites such as mydv.co.uk, pspuniverse.co.uk, gardenready.co.uk, nepine.co.uk and oztool.com.
Paradies went to great lengths to make the site look as if it was British. Mydv called itself "The UK’s best source for digital video equipment" and sold Playstations and digital cameras solely to British consumers. Even a telephone number on the site listed a local London number. Many customers were attracted to the site because it was placed high up when they searched Google.
On Dec. 16, the attorney general’s office came to an agreement with the company that allowed it to continue to operate, provided it send refunds out to those customers who were overcharged. It also had to fill orders by the end of December.
According to court documents, 128 consumers contacted the attorney general’s office over the past three weeks to complain about the site.
"I’m sorry they felt they were deceived," said Matt Wolf, the chief financial officer of the company, in an interview with the Transcript last December. "With this kind of growth have come growing pains."
Wolf wouldn’t say how many Web sites there are that cater to these markets, but said his company would expand to other countries. But the company, which seemed to rise out of nowhere, has retained powerful international law firms, including Hogan and Hartson, and Goodwin Proctor, based in Boston.
The company had also hired New York City-based Connors Communications, a company that has represented such big-name clients such as Deloitte & Touche, Disney.com and Amazon.com.
Most of this comes as no surprise, but at least now it has been confirmed.
Comments?
jokach
Reposted from:
http://www2.townonline.com/roslindale/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=409960&format=&page=1
Here is the story:
Web site with WR roots forced to close
By David L. Harris/ Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006
A Web site owned by a former West Roxbury resident that allegedly bilked hundreds of British customers out of an untold amount of money was put out of business last week by the attorney general’s office.
British consumers alleged Nepco, whose chief executive is a former West Roxbury resident, had failed to ship merchandise, specifically Playstations and digital cameras; overcharged them; and sold them products with only American compatibility.
Attorney General Tom Reilly’s office shut down the company, froze its assets and required the company to turn over all of its records last Friday after the sites inexplicably went down sometime last week.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday, according to Sarah Nathan, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.
Officials from the company, Nepco, now based in Waltham, didn’t return multiple phone messages by the Transcript’s deadline.
Steve Cooke, distribution center manager for the Swiss-based third-party logistics company that took care of warehousing and shipping for Nepco, declined to comment, saying only, "They’re a customer of ours."
Nepco, which was started by Jeremy Paradies, a former West Roxbury resident who registered a series of sites using his former Anderer Lane address in West Roxbury, owns sites such as mydv.co.uk, pspuniverse.co.uk, gardenready.co.uk, nepine.co.uk and oztool.com.
Paradies went to great lengths to make the site look as if it was British. Mydv called itself "The UK’s best source for digital video equipment" and sold Playstations and digital cameras solely to British consumers. Even a telephone number on the site listed a local London number. Many customers were attracted to the site because it was placed high up when they searched Google.
On Dec. 16, the attorney general’s office came to an agreement with the company that allowed it to continue to operate, provided it send refunds out to those customers who were overcharged. It also had to fill orders by the end of December.
According to court documents, 128 consumers contacted the attorney general’s office over the past three weeks to complain about the site.
"I’m sorry they felt they were deceived," said Matt Wolf, the chief financial officer of the company, in an interview with the Transcript last December. "With this kind of growth have come growing pains."
Wolf wouldn’t say how many Web sites there are that cater to these markets, but said his company would expand to other countries. But the company, which seemed to rise out of nowhere, has retained powerful international law firms, including Hogan and Hartson, and Goodwin Proctor, based in Boston.
The company had also hired New York City-based Connors Communications, a company that has represented such big-name clients such as Deloitte & Touche, Disney.com and Amazon.com.
Most of this comes as no surprise, but at least now it has been confirmed.
Comments?
jokach