MONTREAL - A Montreal man was fined $1 million Tuesday for his role in a telemarketing scam that generated more than $136 million in fraudulent sales.
Michael Mouyal, 53, also received two years' probation and 240 hours of community service when he appeared in Quebec court.
Mouyal operated the scam under a number of names - Commercial Business Supplies, Merchant Transaction Supplies, Merchant Supply Services and International Business Directories -- in the six years it operated.
The case went to court following an investigation by the Competition Bureau of Canada under the deceptive telemarketing provisions of the Competition Act.
The scam operated from boiler rooms in Toronto, Montreal, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
As part of the scam, not-for-profit organizations, businesses and government agencies in Canada, the United States and Britain were contacted by telemarketers who claimed to be their regular supplier of office supplies or business directories.
The callers they were contacting the victims to renew previous orders.
