The FTC filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order against six defendants operating a deceptive health care scheme that impersonated government and insurance carriers to sell fake comprehensive health plans. The defendants allegedly charged consumers without express informed consent, failed to disclose material terms including cancellation processes, and misled consumers into paying for inadequate coverage that left many with substantial medical debt. The FTC seeks refunds for affected consumers and alleges violations of the FTC Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, Impersonation Rule, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order halting the defendants' deceptive operations. The FTC's complaint seeks refunds for consumers harmed by the scheme, and requests injunctive relief to permanently stop the unlawful practices.
In-house legal teams should review customer agreements, vendor contracts with telemarketing service providers, and insurance-related service agreements. Key clauses to audit include consent provisions to ensure express, informed consent for all charges (especially recurring payments), negative option and automatic renewal clauses requiring clear disclosure of cancellation steps, material terms disclosure sections, telemarketing compliance representations and warranties, and data protection clauses for health and financial consumer information. Agreements should also prohibit impersonation of government entities or third-party carriers, and include breach notification requirements for unauthorized use of consumer data.
Entity
Innovative Partners, LP; American Collective, LP; Papyrus Green Investments LLC; Health Plan Administrators, LLC; Amani Ibrahim Shokry; Ahmed Ibrihim Shokry
Industry
InsuranceOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/ftc-sues-stop-deceptive-health-care-scheme
2423043innovativepartnerstro
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423043innovativepartnerstro.pdf
2423043innovativepartnerscomplaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423043innovativepartnerscomplaint.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"April 22, 2026"
"The defendants include Innovative Partners, LP, which does business as Innovative Health Plan or Healthcare Plan, and its Chief Technology Officer Amani Ibrahim Shokry; American Collective, LP, which does business as ACLP Health Plan; Papyrus Green Investments LLC; and their owner Ahmed Ibrihim Shokry, as well as Health Plan Administrators, LLC."
"the defendants violated the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Impersonation Rule, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act"
"unfairly charge consumers without their express, informed consent"
"fail to disclose material terms and conditions of their negative option feature, specifically the steps consumers must take to cancel the monthly recurring payments"
"the court entered a temporary restraining order against the defendants"
The FTC settled charges with data broker Kochava, Inc. and its subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS) over allegations that they sold precise location data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices without consumer consent, enabling tracking of visits to sensitive locations like reproductive health clinics and places of worship. The settlement prohibits the companies from selling or sharing sensitive location data without affirmative express consumer consent, and imposes compliance requirements including a sensitive location data program, supplier consent assessments, incident reporting, and data retention schedules. No monetary penalty was imposed.
$140.0M
Following an FTC investigation, a federal court granted summary judgment against timeshare exit scheme operator Christopher Carroll, ordering him to pay $140 million total ($95 million in consumer redress, $45 million civil penalty) for defrauding consumers out of over $90 million. The scheme used deceptive direct mail and in-person pitches, falsely claimed affiliation with timeshare companies, failed to provide refunds, and violated the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule by forcing consumers to sign non-cancellable contracts. Carroll is also permanently banned from marketing timeshare exit services or engaging in deceptive door-to-door sales.
This press release announces the FTC's testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on April 15, 2026, outlining the agency's priorities including consumer privacy protection, competition enforcement, and implementation of the TAKE IT DOWN Act. No specific enforcement action against a private entity is announced in this release.
The FTC announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on a potential nationwide rule to address unfair or deceptive fee practices by online food and grocery delivery platforms. The ANPRM covers requirements for disclosing total prices, fees, variable charges, price differentials, and promotion terms. Past FTC enforcement actions against Instacart and Grubhub for deceptive fee practices are cited as evidence of ongoing issues in the industry.
$868K
The FTC announced three separate settlements with companies making false 'Made in USA' claims: TouchTunes (electronic dartboards, $625k consumer redress), Americana Liberty and related parties (flags and flagpoles, $167,743 redress), and Oak Street Bootmakers (footwear, $75k redress). The companies violated the FTC Act, Made in USA Labeling Rule, and for Americana Liberty, the Textile Act and Rules, by making unqualified origin claims for products with significant imported components or wholly imported from China. Each settlement prohibits future misrepresentations of U.S. origin and requires consumer notices.
$750K
The FTC alleged that Vanilla Chip LLC (d/b/a TruHeight) deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without competent scientific evidence, and used fake employee-written and incentivized 5-star reviews. The proposed settlement requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000, bars false health claims, and prohibits misleading review practices. A $4 million total judgment is partially suspended due to the respondents' inability to pay the full amount.