Dr. Michael Schaper, Deputy Chair of the ACCC
Artorios Ink’s Director and Sales Manager have also been banned from managing or directing companies for five years, on top of the AU$100,000 fine.
ARNNet reported on the findings of the Australian Federal Court in the case against Artorios Ink, which began in September 2012 after it was taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time that the company had been accused of misleading businesses over supplying ink cartridges during 2011 and 2012, with Director Tuan Nguyen and Sales Manager Thuan Nguyen “engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive and made false or misleading representations involving the supply of printer cartridges to businesses”, including many SMBs.
After agreeing to purchase printer cartridges from the company, the ACCC alleged that Artorios Ink claimed to be its current supplier of printer cartridges “when no such agreement was made” and that Artorios Ink falsely claimed to have taken legal proceedings in the Magistrates Court of Victoria against the business in an attempt to force it to pay for printer cartridges.
The case finally came to its conclusion in Australia with a fine of AU$100,000 ($91,095/€67,152) imposed on the two men, who are also banned from managing or directing companies for five years, with the fine shared between the two men. Both Nguyens “admitted to acting deliberately to mislead and deceive small businesses to generate ink cartridge sales”, with the company going into voluntary liquidation in February as a result of the ACCC’s proceedings.
Five small businesses had been mislead by Artorios, whom the court ruled had lied by saying there was an agreement to purchase cartridges from them “when there wasn’t [one]”, as well as that the supplier was approved “when it wasn’t”, and that it had taken up legal cases against the companies to “obtain payment”, when it “in fact had not instituted any proceedings”.
Justice Mortimer “inferred” in her ruling that there was a “deliberate and calculated plan” to misrepresent a previous supply relationship with the small companies, adding: “The most serious aspect of the conduct was its premeditated character, the implementation of a system of deceiving unsuspecting employees and owners of small businesses into believing that they had ordered printer cartridges and were obliged to pay for them.”
Dr. Michael Shaper, Deputy Chair of the ACCC, stated: “The ACCC will continue to intervene to protect small businesses from traders who attempt to trick them into paying for goods or services they did not purchase.”