Florida Attorney General’s Office Secures More Than $4 Million and a Lifetime Industry Ban Against Deceptive Moving Broker Enterprise

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Today, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the Consumer Protection Division secured a lifetime ban and final judgments totaling more than $4 million settling ongoing litigation related to a Florida-based moving brokerage scheme. Charles Abrams, Rudolph Rice, and Daniel Metz operated a common enterprise of moving brokerage companies, including Gold Standard Moving and Storage and others. 

"We will not tolerate shady moving operators scamming hardworking Floridians," said Attorney General James Uthmeier. "Thanks to the work of Senior Assistant Attorney General Josie Warren, Deputy Director Sasha Funk Granai, and Assistant Attorney General Pooneh Charkhian-Martinez of the Consumer Protection Division, these operators and entities are permanently banned from the moving business in Florida and will be paying millions of dollars in monetary judgments."

These entities represented to consumers that they were professional movers providing door-to-door service; however, the companies were actually online brokers that provided low quotes to secure large, up-front deposits from customers and outsourced the work to unvetted moving carriers, subjecting many consumers to demands for additional payment, resulting in consumer complaints. Consumers further complained that although the defendants promised to provide refunds and customer service throughout the moves, the entities and operators failed to do so.

The entities included in the Gold Standard Moving enterprise are Executive Van Lines, Imperial Moving Group d/b/a Simple Path Moving, National American Van Lines, Razor Van Lines, Spartan Moving and Storage, United American Moving, Us Pro Moving and Logistics, and Gold Standard Moving and Storage. The companies serially changed names when bad reviews made it difficult to attract new customers. 

As a result of Attorney General Uthmeier's action, five final consent judgments permanently banned the defendants from the moving broker industry in Florida. 

The total monetary judgment against the Gold Standard entities and the individual defendants is $4,139,239, including $1,120,239 in consumer relief. Eligible consumers will be contacted.

To view the consent final judgment for Abrams and Gold Standard Enterprise Companies, click here.

To view the consent final judgment for Imperial Moving Group, click here.

To view Rice's final consent judgment, click here.

To view the consent final judgment for Metz, click here.

To view the consent final judgment for National American Van Lines, click here.

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