The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions from customers during the period that Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general, served as a paid advisory-board member, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
World Patent Marketing shut down last year after being accused by the Federal Trade Commission of scamming customers out of $26 million, the newspaper reported, citing interviews with an alleged victim who was contacted by the FBI and with other people.
Whitaker was appointed on Wednesday by President Trump after Jeff Sessions was ousted. He oversees the FBI.
The investigation was being handled by the Miami FBI office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to an email sent to the alleged victim last year by an FBI victim specialist.
A recording on a phone line set up by the Justice Department to help victims said Friday the case remains active, the Journal said.
