CHICAGO — Pinnacle Security has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for allegedly hiring felons to sell its products, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
The department has accused the summer-sales-model company of hiring unlicensed sales personnel and allowing employees with criminal backgrounds to sell alarm systems door-to-door, reports the Chicago Tribune. Furthermore, the employees used fraudulent and deceptive sales practices to get customers to change their alarm service.
Roughly, 700 of 1,100 Pinnacle workers were not licensed by the state of Illinois, according to the department. Numerous workers had been charged or convicted of felonies including larceny, robbery, theft, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and more.
As part of the agreement, Pinnacle has agreed to a two-year sales ban in Illinois, supervision of the company’s monitoring of existing accounts and five years of probation.
