Federal Trade Commission v. Paglia

Filing 9

ORDER Granting 1 PETITION for an Order Enforcing Civil Investigative Demands filed by Federal Trade Commission. Respondent Ralph Paglia shall comply in full with the Commission's CIDsby producing all responsive documents and informatio n specified in the May 2 CID, and appearing and testifying under oath as directed by the June 18 CIDwithin fourteen (14) days of the receipt of this Order, or at such later time as may be designated by the FTC staff. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a c opy of this Order and the civil investigative demands, issued to Respondent on May 2, 2014, and June 18, 2014, be served by the U.S. Marshals Service. Signed by Chief Judge Gloria M. Navarro on 10/28/2014. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - cc: USM - EDS)

1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

2

DISTRICT OF NEVADA

3

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION,
4
5

Petitioner,
vs.

6

RALPH PAGLIA,
7
8

Respondent.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

Case No.: 2:14-cv-01480-GMN-CWH
ORDER

9
10

Pending before the Court is the Petition for an Order Enforcing Civil Investigative

11

Demands (ECF No. 1) filed by Petitioner Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).

12

Petitioner, pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission

13

Act, 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1, has invoked the aid of this Court, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 81(a)(5),

14

for an order requiring Respondent, Ralph Paglia, to comply in full with the civil investigative

15

demands (CIDs), issued to Respondent on May 2, 2014, and June 18, 2014, in aid of a law

16

enforcement investigation being conducted by the Commission (FTC File No. 131-0206).

17

Congress has authorized the FTC to conduct investigations. See 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1(a)(1).

18

In so doing, Congress has also authorized the FTC to issue requests for information from third

19

parties, even if they are not the subject of the investigation. See 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1(c).

20

Therefore, it is by that authority that the Court is enforcing Petitioner’s CIDs and providing

21

U.S. Marshal Service to serve the Respondent with this Order.

22

The Court has considered the Petition of the Federal Trade Commission for an Order

23

Enforcing Civil Investigative Demands and the papers and arguments in support thereof.

24

However, Respondent did not file any opposition to the Petition and did not appear to the Show

25

Cause Hearing on October 16, 2014 at 9:30AM. Therefore, the Court is unaware of any

Page 1 of 2

1
2

arguments in opposition to the Petition that Respondent may have.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Petition for an Order Enforcing Civil

3

Investigative Demands (ECF No. 1) is GRANTED. Respondent Ralph Paglia shall comply in

4

full with the Commission’s CIDs—by producing all responsive documents and information

5

specified in the May 2 CID, and appearing and testifying under oath as directed by the June 18

6

CID—within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of this Order, or at such later time as may be

7

designated by the FTC staff.

8

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order and the civil investigative

9

demands, issued to Respondent on May 2, 2014, and June 18, 2014, be served by the U.S.

10
11

Marshals Service.
DATED this 28th day of October, 2014.

12
13
14
15

___________________________________
Gloria M. Navarro, Chief Judge
United States District Judge

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Page 2 of 2

PET. EXH. 3

PET. EXH. 4

CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND
Oral Testimony

1. TO

2. FROM

Ralph Paglia
Automotive Media Partners LLC
2701 N. Rainbow Blvd., Ste. 2202
Las Vegas, NV 89108

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

This demand is issued pursuant to Section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1, in the
course of an investigation to determine whether there is, has been, or may be a violation of any laws administered
by the Federal Trade Commission by conduct, activities or proposed action as described in Item 6.
4. YOUR APPEARANCE WILL BE BEFORE

3. LOCATION OF HEARING

Melissa Westman-Cherry
Office of the United States Attorney
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 5000
Las Vegas, Nevada 891 01

5. DATE AND TIME OF HEARING

July 10, 2014, at 10 am
6. SUBJECT OF INVESTIGATION

AutoDealers, File No. 131-0206
See attached Commission Resolution

7. RECORDS CUSTODIAN/DEPUTY CUSTODIAN

8. COMMISSION COUNSEL

Geoffrey Green, Assistant Director

Melissa Westman-Cherry

INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTICES
The delivery of this demand to you by any method prescribed by the

YOUR RIGHTS TO REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT
FAIRNESS

Commission's Rules of Practice is legal service and may subject you to a

The FTC has a longstanding commitment to a fair regulatory enforcement

penalty imposed by law for failure to comply. This demand does not

environment. If you are a small business (under Small Business

require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.

Administration standards), you have a right to contact the Small Business
Administration's National Ombudsman at 1-888-REGFAIR

PETITION TO LIMIT OR QUASH

(1-888-734-3247) or www.sba.gov/ombudsman regarding the fairness of

The Commission's Rules of Practice require that any petition to limit or

the compliance and enforcement activities of the agency. You should

quash this demand be filed within 20 days after service, or, if the return

understand, however, that the National Ombudsman cannot change, stop,

date is less than 20 days after service, prior to the return date. The original

or delay a federal agency enforcement action.

and twelve copies of the petition must be filed with the Secretary of the
Federal Trade Commission, and one copy should be sent to the

The FTC strictly forbids retaliatory acts by its employees, and you will not

Commission Counsel named in Item 8.

be penalized for expressing a concern about these activities.

TRAVEL EXPENSES
Use the enclosed travel voucher to claim compensation to which you are entitled as a witness for the Commission. The completed travel voucher and this
demand should be presented to Commission Counsel for payment. If you are permanently or temporarily living somewhere other than the address on this
demand and it would require excessive travel for you to appear, you must get prior approval from Commission Counsel.
A copy of the Commission's Rules of Practice is available online at http://bit.ly/FTCRulesofPractice. Paper copies are available upon request.
FTC Form

141 (rev. 3/03)

Form of Certificate of Compliance*

1/We do certify that all of the information required by the attached Civil Investigative Demand which is
in the possession, custody, control, or knowledge of the person to whom the demand is directed has been
submitted to a custodian named herein.
If an interrogatory or a portion of the request has not been fully answered or portion of the report has
not been completed the objection to such interrogatory or uncompleted portion and the reasons for the
objection have been stated .

Signature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Title_ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Sworn to before me this day

Notary Public

"In the event that more than one person is responsible for answering the interrogatories or preparing the report, the certificate
shall identify the interrogatories or portion of the report for which each certifying individual was responsible . In place of a sworn
statement, the above certificate of compliance may be supported by an unsworn declaration as provided for by 28 U.S.C. § 1746.

FTC Form 141-back (rev 3/03)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS:

Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman
Julie Brill
Maureen K. Ohlhausen .
Joshua D. Wright

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING USE OF
COMPULSORY PROCESS IN NONPUBLIC INVESTIGATION
FILENO. 1310206
Nature and Scope of Investigation:
To determine whether firms in the retail automobile industry, including
automobile dealers and industry consultants, may be engaging in, or may have engaged
in, conduct violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. §45, as
amended, by agreeing to restrain competition, including by agreeing to refuse to deal
with TrueCar, Inc.
The Federal Trade Commission hereby resolves and directs that any and all
compulsory processes available to it be used in connection with this investigation.
Authority to Conduct Investigation:
Sections 6, 9, 10 and 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 46,
49, 50, and 57b-l, as amended; FTC Procedures and Rules of Practice, 16 C.F.R. § 1.1.,
et. seq. and supplements thereto.

.l.

By direction of the Commission.M

Donald S. Clark
Secretary

Issued: January 17,2014

~