An Iowa telemarketing company sued by the state Attorney General's Office has been ordered to shut down and pay nearly $2.6 million in reimbursement and penalties after a Polk County judge found that it had defrauded small businesses across the country.
Alphonso "Al" Barnum, his wife, mother, several of his associates and 10 companies with ties to Barnum lied to clients, coercing them into paying for advertisements and promotional items such as posters and city information guides that were never delivered, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller's office charged in the lawsuit.