FTC Alleges Fraud by 2 Telemarketers : ‘Boiler rooms’: The suits claim that the firms, Group America and Whitney Morgan, failed to tell clients of substantial fees on their investments.

The Federal Trade Commission Tuesday accused two local firms of defrauding hundreds of people in separate nationwide telemarketing operations that may have cost investors more than $100 million.

Operating out of Southland “boiler rooms,” the companies used high-pressure sales tactics to pull in mainly elderly customers with false promises of high-yield, virtually risk-free investments in precious metals, the FTC alleged in separate civil lawsuits. The cash investments ranged from $10,000 to $150,000, the FTC said.

The FTC alleges that the companies failed to inform consumers of “substantial” fees associated with the investments. And one firm sometimes failed to even purchase the precious metals that it supposedly was keeping on account for its customers, the FTC said.

The allegations were made at a Los Angeles press conference one hour after U.S. District Court Judge Harry Hupp issued an injunction temporarily closing the operations of one of the telemarketers, Venice-based Group America Inc. On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew ordered a temporary shutdown of the other company, Agoura Hills-based Morgan Whitney Trading Group Inc.

The court orders were made in response to the FTC lawsuits. Although similar, the cases are not related.

Lawyers for the two companies were not immediately available for comment.

One suit claims that Morgan Whitney sold clients across the country highly leveraged investments in platinum, silver and commemorative medallions. In a typical transaction, a consumer paid 20% of the cost of the metal in cash and was to borrow funds through Morgan Whitney to cover the balance, FTC officials said.

The other suit alleges that Group America sold precious metals such as platinum and gold and foreign currencies on a leveraged basis. Typically, consumers paid about 25% of the cost of the investment, plus a sales commission, and were told that Group America could arrange a loan to cover the balance of the purchase price, according to the suit.

Marcy J. K. Tiffany, director of the FTC’s Los Angeles office, estimated that Group America had about 400 investors. Morgan Whitney’s client base had not been determined, but “hundreds” of people purchased their investments, she said.