The Curacao retail chain has agreed to pay $10.5 million to partially settle a lawsuit brought by the California attorney general’s office alleging that the company exploited its customer base largely Spanish-speaking immigrants through misleading advertising, unlawful fees, illegal debt collection and abuses of the small-claims court system.
State lawyers filed suit in 2017 against Curacao’s parent company, Adir International, and its chief executive, Ron Azarkman, charging that the stores had for years targeted low-income Latinos who lacked access to traditional sources of credit.
Curacao swindled these customers, state lawyers alleged, by refusing to sell goods at advertised prices and tacking on warranties, accessories, installation services, often without the customer’s knowledge or consent.