(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s Office)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office, Sunday recently announced a settlement in Harrisburg with a Florida-based company and its owners for allegedly impersonating a Commonwealth agency as part of efforts to get money from owners of newly-registered Pennsylvania businesses. The company will pay $40,000 in total restitution to impacted business owners. PA Corporate Certificates, LLC, contacted Pennsylvania-based business owners to solicit purchases of a Subsistence Certificate, which is a legitimate document offered by the Pennsylvania Department of State (that costs $40), but it is often not necessary for many businesses. PA Corporate Certificates, LLC inflated the price to $102.50 and collected payment from nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania business owners and the company sent letters that appeared to be from the Pennsylvania Department of State and misrepresented the purpose or benefit of a Subsistence Certificate to perpetrate the alleged scam. Not all businesses who paid for a certificate actually received it. The settlement, in the form of a Consent Petition, resolves a lawsuit against PA Corporate Certificates, LLC, and its owners – Brian Capobiano, Dean Marshlack, and David Marshlack. PA Corporate Certificates, LLC has ceased operations in Pennsylvania and the settlement prevents the business or the individuals from operating in Pennsylvania, including soliciting for and/or engaging in the sale of certificates of subsistence. The Consent Petition was filed in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas and is pending approval of the Court.