Attorney General's News Release

January 7, 2002

Nixon sues owners of St. Louis area business who sold expensive computer training courses under false pretenses

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today filed a lawsuit against the owners of Linuxgruven, a now-defunct St. Louis area-based business that Nixon said fraudulently sold computer training courses at eight offices around the country for $2,500-$3,150.

Nixon said that Linuxgruven offered the courses under the guise of preparing the student for employment with the company as a computer technician or network engineer, but that the great majority of students who paid for and took the course were never hired because they failed a test administered by the company. Other students who paid for the course but were unable to take it when Linuxgruven went out of business last March were not reimbursed for the tuition.

The lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County, names James M. Hibbits, of Florissant, and Michael J. Lebb, of Clayton, as defendants. Hibbits and Lebb were the founders and sole owners of Linuxgruven. The company described itself as a technical support and services company for other businesses that utilize the Linux computer operating system, but was not affiliated with Linux.

"Linuxgruven placed 'help wanted' ads in major newspapers in Missouri and elsewhere around the country seeking Linux network engineers and saying that training was available," Nixon said. "What the ads didn't say was that the training cost money, and that the course tuition paid by the trainee actually was the main source of income for the company. Linuxgruven apparently was in business to perpetuate itself through training tuition, rather than actually providing technical support to other companies."

Nixon said people who responded to the help wanted ad were interviewed by someone who was a commissioned salesperson selling the training course. Less than 20 percent of approximately 1,000 people who paid for the training course passed the test given by Linuxgruven and were hired by the company. Nixon said the test was revised from time to time to make it harder to pass, at the direction of defendant Hibbits.

"It is doubtful that many of the consumers who responded to the help wanted ads and paid for the training course would have been lured in if they had known all the facts," Nixon said. "The defendants hid important information from the consumers in order to fraudulently entice them to take the course."

Nixon's lawsuit asks the court to order Hibbits and Lebb to pay restitution to consumers who were defrauded by their actions. The lawsuit also seeks penalties and costs from the defendants, as well as an order permanently enjoining them from violating Missouri consumer protection laws again. That prohibition would include soliciting students for training courses without disclosing to the students all the material facts, including the likelihood of employment after such training.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818