2 Barred From Credit Card Phone Sales

U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Rymer issued a temporary injunction here Tuesday restraining two ex-convicts from taking part in any telephone sales business that accepts Visa or MasterCard bank cards for payment.

Visa and MasterCard had previously sued Bernd Udo Andreas Drisang--alias Jason Drisang--a West German who formerly lived here, and Edward J. Kane of Santa Monica, alleging that they were leaders of a nationwide racket that tricked thousands of people into revealing their credit card numbers by phone to “boiler room” solicitors.

Court papers allege that the telephone solicitors obtained the numbers by offering trial “packages” for travel club membership. The unwary card holders were then subjected to unauthorized charges totaling at least $2.5 million, the suit said.

Bad Checks

Visa and MasterCard told the court that they have learned that Drisang, who formerly operated in Los Angeles, recently has been “laundering” his fraudulent credit card sales drafts through a Pittsburgh entity called H&S; Carpetland.

He also passed bad checks totaling $100,000 to an apparently legitimate travel business in St. Petersburg, Fla., according to affidavits submitted to the court here.

Drisang is on probation after being convicted of obtaining a false passport. Kane is on federal probation for making false statements to a federally insured bank. Judge Rymer ruled Tuesday that there was “good cause to believe” that the two men and co-defendant Riviera International Travel Inc. have been engaging in violations of the Organized Crime Control Act and fraud laws and would continue unless restrained by the court.