A multi-million dollar lawsuit has been filed by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and an affiliate against an Illinois vacation and travel club promoter for fraud.
The suit, filed Aug. 2 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, alleges that Bailey & Associates, Litchfield, IL, used counterfeited BBB reports and trademarks for the past four years in its national mass mailing promoting vacation and travel packages, according to court documents.
The CBBB and the St. Louis Better Business Bureau are seeking at least $1 million in damages for each counterfeit trademark used.
The suit also seeks to prohibit the firm from further unauthorized use of BBB trademarks and reports or implying that it is a member in good standing in the organization, the documents said.
Defendants named in the suit include Bailey & Associates, which operates under the names New Horizons, National resorts, National Acceptance Corp. and Winner’s Circle of Chicago; William Bailey, its president; Joseph Anthony D’Amato, vice president, sales; D’Amato’s wife, Debra Lynn D’Amato, sales manager, and Robert Williams, New Horizons general manager.
The suit claims that Bailey & Associates have used the counterfeit BBB trade marks since Aug. 31. Bailey & Associates allegedly has an unsatisfactory standing with the BBB based on consumer complaints and lawsuits by authorities in both Illinois and Missouri.
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