The Federal Trade Commission issued this press release today:

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has frozen the assets of corporations and an individual behind a far-reaching Internet enterprise that allegedly made more than $275 million by luring consumers into deceptive “trial” memberships, and bogus government-grant and money-making schemes.

The court froze the assets of 61 corporations (collectively known as “I Works”) and their alleged ringleader, Jeremy Johnson. It placed these defendants’ assets under the control of a court-supervised receiver to help ensure that funds are available for consumer restitution when the case is concluded. In December 2010, the FTC alleged that I Works lured consumers into “trial” memberships for bogus government-grant and money-making schemes, and then repeatedly charged monthly fees for these and other memberships the consumers never ordered.