WESTLAKE : Copier Firm Settles Suit Alleging Fraud
A Westlake company accused of misrepresenting the wear and tear on photocopy machines it sold to schools and churches agreed Wednesday to pay $82,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Ventura County district attorney’s office.
The settlement by Preferred Copy Corp.--which includes $32,000 in restitution to 14 customers--came after an 11-month investigation by the consumer fraud unit of the district attorney’s office.
The company, which sells used photocopy machines and service contracts for the copiers, agreed to the settlement without admitting any wrongdoing.
But prosecutors, who got complaints about Preferred Copy as far back as 1990, contend in the civil lawsuit that the company reset copy counters on its machines to make them appear to have less use than they actually had.
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