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If
it becomes law, the bill would make it easier for the FTC, which
also enforces antitrust law, to sue deceptive companies and
scammers to recover the money that they took from consumers,
Cantwell's office said in a statement on Monday.
The FTC had been suing companies and scammers for decades to
recover ill-gotten gains but was stopped in April 2021 by the
Supreme Court, which found that the agency went further than it
could legally in its practice of seeking court orders to make
fraudsters return money.
Given the court decision, the FTC needs Congress to expressly
give it authority to demand disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.
The House of Representatives passed similar legislation last
year.
Business groups had complained that the FTC aggressively
extracted billions of dollars in monetary awards from companies
in recent years.
"If the FTC remains disarmed of this critical authority,
millions of consumers and small businesses who’ve been scammed,
swindled, or locked out of competitive marketplaces will never
be made whole," Cantwell said in a statement. The senator also
released a committee report to support the need for the
legislation.
The legislation that Cantwell will introduce will authorize
relief for consumers hurt by violations of consumer protection
law, her office said in a statement. It also would put a 10-year
statute of limitations on lawsuits, the statement said.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Howard Goller)
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