http://www.ky3.com/news/local/59391962.html
MISSOURI:LAW ENFORCEMENT BUST TONER BOILER ROOM
Investigators serve search warrant at toner telemarketing company
SPRINGFIELD
— The Missouri attorney general’s office and other law enforcement
agencies are investigating a telemarketing firm in the south part of
the city. As part of the probe, some federal agents and inspectors
spent much of Tuesday going in and out of M-Tech, 1333 Bradford
Parkway, but they would only say they were there as part of an ongoing
probe.M-Tech sells computer equipment in addition to doing
telemarketing for copying machine accessories such as toner. No one
answered the company’s telephones on Tuesday. The attorney general’s
office wouldn’t discuss the investigation.
http://www.kspr.com/news/local/59552757.html
Former Mtek Employee Speaks Out About Raid
(Springfield,
Mo.) — Former Mtek employee Amanda Brown says she quit when she
realized she was working for a company she now calls unethical.”We were
told to be honest with them, but try to get them to give you the
answers with giving them as little information as possible,” says
Brown.She says her sales manager would give her pages from the phone
book to call to sell printer cartridges and ink. Brown says she was
told those businesses had contracts with Mtek.When someone answered,
her goal was to get their printer model number and their shipping
information.”Just say, ‘hey, you know, we had a little mix-up here in
the warehouse, and we’ve got these 10 cartridges for your hp 2610, just
wanted to let you know that they were shipping out to you,'” says Brown.
Then,
she says, they would ship out the toner with a bill.”They’d end up with
a shipment of toner cartridges that was worth $3,000 for a company
they’d never heard of,” says Brown.It’s for these reasons Brown says
she isn’t surprised what happened Tuesday. Those working near Mtek
witnessed the activity.”We started seeing some people with vests on,”
says Misty Lokovich, who works in a nearby dental office.Lokovich says
she saw the IRS, postal investigators, and members of the Attorney
General’s office coming in and out of Mtek with black cases. Of the
three organizations, none will say why. In fact, only the IRS would
confirm it was at Mtek Tuesday.We tried to talk with Mtek’s owner about
the raid. We tried to call Mtek, but no one answered the phone. We
tried calling the business’s president at home, but his phone is
disconnected.So, we stopped by the business Wednesday. The door was
unlocked, but the lady we met inside the door said ‘no comment’ and
told us to leave. She escorted us out the door and locked it.
Whatever
the reason, Brown is just glad to hear Mtek is being investigated,
especially knowing how it hurt her professionally.”I had people in
interviews go, ‘oh, you worked for microtek solutions. Aren’t they
toner pirates?” says Brown.Three businesses are registered with the
same address at the address of Mtek. They are Mtek, High Performance
Laserworks, and Dataline Technologies. Between the 3 businesses,
consumers filed 70 complaints with the Better Business Bureau over the
last 3 years.