Goddard Announces Indictment of Bankcard Empire Owner

Goddard Announces Indictment of Bankcard Empire Owner

Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Leslie Spencer Mersky, 64, of Scottsdale, has been indicted on charges of fraudulent schemes and artifices, forgery, theft and aggravated identity theft.

Mersky is the owner of Bankcard Empire of Phoenix, which sold business opportunity packages that often required large upfront fees over the Internet.

Mersky is accused of making fraudulent charges to the credit card accounts of purchasers of Bankcard Empire’s work-at-home business opportunities sold over the Internet. Bankcard Empire has long been the subject of many consumer complaints about its business practices. The indictment alleges that at Mersky’s direction, employees of Bankcard Empire would cut and paste the signatures of purchasers of Bankcard’s products into unauthorized credit card payment authorizations.

Bankcard Empire was the target of a search warrant executed two months ago. The U.S. Postal Service, Tempe Police, Phoenix Police, the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office were involved in the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Michael Flynn in Maricopa County Superior Court.