Judge Comes Down Real Hard on 'Real Wealth'

Real Wealth Inc. and its owner, Lance Murkin, have been slapped with a $10.4 million fine by a federal judge for fleecing more than 10,000 consumers -- including many who were unemployed, elderly and disabled -- with bogus employment and grant schemes.

In addition to the fine, which represents the total amount of money conned from unwitting consumers, Murkin and Real Wealth were also banned by the court from marketing and selling work-at-home or grant-related products, as well as helping others to do so.

The ruling resulted from legal action by the Federal Trade Commission, which sued Murkin and his Lees Summit, Mo., company in February 2010 as part of a larger crackdown against employment and money-making scams taking advantage of unemployed and desperate consumers known as "Operation Bottom Dollar".