A ruling

Two citizens of the United Kingdom accused by the Federal Trade Commission of running an online billing operation that defrauded U.S. consumers of millions of dollars have been found in contempt of court and face arrest if they set foot in the United States. A ruling handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on May 1 found Robert Green and Marilyn Shein guilty of civil contempt for failing to comply with an injunction that the Federal Trade Commission won last year ordering the pair to hand over personal financial statements. Green and Shein were charged last October with fraud in connection with Verity International Ltd., a Bahamian corporation of which the pair are principal owners. The FTC claims that Verity International fraudulently billed consumers for international calls placed to access porn Web sites. The consumers, claims the FTC, were duped by downloading auto-dialing software and by erroneous statements made by Verity International regarding billing practices. Many consumers also stated they never made the calls, some even saying they do not own computers.