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FBI Probing Florida Company Linked to Acting AG Whitaker, Report Says

FBI Probing Florida Company Linked to Acting AG Whitaker, Report Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions from customers during the period that Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general, served as a paid advisory-board member, the WSJ reported.

World Patent Marketing shut down last year after being accused by the Federal Trade Commission of scamming customers out of $26 million, the newspaper reported, citing interviews with an alleged victim who was contacted by the FBI and other people familiar with the matter.

Whitaker was appointed to his new role on Wednesday by President Trump after Jeff Session was ousted. He oversees the FBI.

The investigation was being handled by the Miami FBI office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to an email sent to the alleged victim last year by an FBI victim specialist.

A recording on a phone line set up by the Justice Department to help victims said Friday the case remains active, the WSJ said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alexandra Stratton in New York at astratton4@bloomberg.net;Matthew G. Miller in New York at mmiller144@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, Andrew Davis

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