A district court judgment has banned a Missouri man from doing business in Idaho after he allegedly fraudulently invoiced a lawmaker for millions of dollars.
Last spring, Sen. Mark Harris, a Republican from Soda Springs, received an invoice from a St. Louis-based company, Karabell Industries, LLC.
It asked him to pay $480 million for IP targeting and general caucus retention work for the Idaho GOP Majority Leadership Committee and affiliated PACs.
But Harris never agreed to purchase any goods or services from Karabell, according to the Idaho Office of the Attorney General. Yet Eli Karabell, a reported consultant, allegedly submitted the bill to a collection agency anyway with the senator’s forged signature.
Last summer, the collection agency alerted Harris and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sued Karabell.
The lawsuit alleged Karabell violated the Idaho Consumer Protection Act.
The judgment from the district court this past week orders him to pay almost $11,000 dollars in penalties and attorney’s fees and prohibits him from advertising or selling goods or services in Idaho or to Idaho consumers.
It also means he can’t send invoices to Idaho consumers for unordered goods or attempt to collect debts in Idaho that consumers don’t owe.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
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