TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A nationwide jewelry company has come to an end following a years-long scam on servicemembers that threw many into debt.
On Tuesday, July 26, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says the Sunflower State reached a settlement on behalf of more than 1,300 Kansans – mostly servicemembers and veterans – who had been defrauded by national jewelry retailer Harris Jewelry.
AG Schmidt said Kansas joined 17 other states and the Federal Trade Commission to recover $34.2 million for more than 46,000 servicemembers and veterans nationwide.
Schmidt said the New York-based jewelry company used deceptive marketing practices to lure active duty servicemembers to their financing program through false claims that investing in the program would improve their credit scores.
Instead, the AG said servicemembers were tricked into gathering high-interest loans on overpriced, poor-quality jewelry which left servicemembers with thousands of dollars of debt and damaged credit scores.
Schmidt indicated that the company operated retail stores near and on military bases across the country – including in Manhattan near Fort Riley. However, the Kansas location closed during the course of the investigation.
Court documents show that Harris Jewelry will cease to collect $293,857.03 still owed in debt and refund $342,905.58 for protection plan fees to about 1,350 Kansans – the vast majority of whom are military members or their families. The company is also required to correct the bad…
