Displaying items by tag: Attorney General Mike DeWine

Ohio's Attorney General Mike DeWine is considering filing criminal charges against Akron City Councilman Bob Hoch in connection to an ethics complaint filed back in 2015. 

The complaint references Hoch's voting on certain legislation that benefitted his two sons who are both Akron firefighters. It was filed by a former city administration that had been involved in a public dispute with Hoch regarding his outspokenness on issues that directly related to the city fire department. 

After an investigation by the Ohio Ethics Committee, the case has been turned over to the Attorney General's Office and a spokesperson says their prosecutors are involved. 

Hoch, who has been on the Akron City Council since 2012, denied that there was any conflict of interest on his part. 

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office released a statement Monday morning regarding their pursuit of restitution for consumers who purchased generators from RHI Incorporated and never recieved them. 

A lawsuit that has been filed claims that Marc J. Ryder, owner of RHI Incorporated, violated Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act and Home Solicitaiton Sales Act in various counties, including Summit. 

Below is the full press release: 

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced a lawsuit seeking restitution from a seller accused of failing to deliver generators sold to Ohio consumers.

The lawsuit accuses Marc J. Ryder, doing business as RHI Incorporated, of violating Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act and Home Solicitation Sales Act.

Ryder sold generators to consumers of multiple Ohio counties, including Franklin, Summit, Muskingum, and Delaware, in some cases at home and garden shows or similar events. In the past two years, 10 consumers filed complaints against RHI, generally saying that they paid thousands of dollars for a generator they still had not received months after the sale. Two of the 10 complaints remain unresolved.  

“Our goal is to protect consumers,” Attorney General DeWine said. “We’re seeking reimbursement for consumers who have lost money and an end to any violations of Ohio’s consumer protection laws.”

Filed in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Friday, the Attorney General’s lawsuit accuses Ryder of failing to deliver products or services within the required eight-week time frame, failing to register a business name, and failing to give consumers proper notice of their right to cancel under Ohio’s Home Solicitation Sales Act. The Attorney General seeks an end to any violations of these laws, consumer damages, and civil penalties. 

Attorney General DeWine encouraged consumers to be cautious when making large purchases from vendors. Tips to avoid problems include:

• Research a seller carefully. Check for complaints filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Better Business Bureau. Find out if the business name is registered with the Ohio Secretary of State. (Unless a seller is operating under his or her own personal name, the name generally should be registered.) Check online reviews to learn more about a seller.
• Independently verify a seller’s claims. If a vendor claims to be an authorized dealer or to be affiliated with a larger company, contact the company to verify these claims. Don’t rely only on what the seller tells you. Also make sure the seller puts any verbal promises in writing. Otherwise they are not guaranteed.
• Check your cancellation rights. Ohio’s Home Solicitation Sales Act gives consumers a three-day right to cancel many sales made outside a seller’s normal place of business, such as at a home show or fair. Sellers are required to give you notice of these cancellation rights.
• Consider paying with a credit card, if possible. If you pay with a credit card, you generally have stronger protections to dispute unauthorized charges. On the other hand, if you pay with cash or check, it’s generally harder to dispute or recover your costs if something goes wrong.

Consumers who suspect a scam or unfair business practice should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioProtects.org or 800-282-0515.

A copy of the lawsuit is available on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.

A state probe into alleged bid-rigging involving sales of a popular water treatment chemical is getting Akron's attention.

The Ohio Attorney General's office says they're putting out the word to Ohio communities that used aluminum sulfate or "alum" in water treatment between 1997 and 2010.

City water supply manager Jeff Bronowski says that definitely includes Akron.

"In Akron, we purchase about 1.5 million gallons of the aluminum sulfate every year, and it generally costs us about a million dollars a year for that purchase," Bronowski tells WAKR.net, "which is one-third of our chemical budget.

Bronowski says Akron would definitely cooperate with the probe.

"We would fully cooperate with any investigation that would be there, we'd be involved with," Bronkowski says, "it's something we'd be definitely be interested in, and would provide any information that's needed in regards to this."

Attorney General Mike DeWine cites three indictments of chemical manufacturing executives in a New Jersey court, charging illegal bid agreements between the companies to sell alum to purchasers - and shutting out fair competition.

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(Ohio Attorney General's office, news release) Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that his office is investigating an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving sales of aluminum sulfate, or "alum," a chemical used to treat drinking water and waste water.

Municipalities are urged to contact the Ohio Attorney General's Office if they purchased alum or ferric acid between 1997 and 2010 for their wastewater or drinking water treatment.

"Many of Ohio's local communities use alum to treat drinking water and waste water," said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. "We need information from local governments that have purchased alum to determine if they got a fair price or if the market was manipulated."

Aluminum sulfate, otherwise known as "alum," is a chemical used to treat both waste water and drinking water. It's a coagulant (binding agent) that also is used by pulp and paper manufacturing companies.

Three executives of chemical manufacturing companies have been indicted in federal court in New Jersey for their alleged roles in a scheme to reduce competition in sales of alum. The alleged scheme involved competitors agreeing among themselves who would win a bid or who would submit the lowest bid (and thus be most likely to win) to sell alum to the purchaser.

Generally, bid-rigging schemes can cause taxpayers and government entities to pay artificially higher prices, because they don't get the benefit of fair competition among vendors.

The Ohio Attorney General is authorized by law to represent municipalities and public entities in antitrust matters such as this one.

Municipalities and other public entities should contact the Ohio Attorney General's Antitrust Section at 614-466-4328 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more about the investigation and to provide information about their aluminum sulfate or ferric acid purchases.