AG Coakley Reaches $545,000 Settlement with WB Mason

BOSTON – Today, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office reached a settlement with Brockton-based WB Mason, Inc. (“WB Mason”) resolving allegations that the office supply company’s internal accounting practices led to mishandled credits of its business customers’ credits resulting in the improper write-off of those credits from WB Mason’s electronic accounting systems for business accounts. As a result of today’s settlement, WB Mason will pay $545,000 to the Commonwealth and is prohibited from engaging in any accounting process that results in depriving customers of valid credits due.

“We take seriously any allegations that a company’s internal accounting procedures deprive consumers, business or otherwise, of money or credit they are owed,” said Attorney General Coakley. “We are pleased that WB Mason recognized the importance of this issue, cooperated during our investigation, and has made the changes necessary to its business practices in order to ensure that it does not happen again.”

The Attorney General’s Office began investigating WB Mason in late 2008 after learning that WB Mason used accounting processes and software that routinely allowed for aging credits to be removed from business customer accounts. WB Mason has since undertaken to overhaul its electronic accounting systems to ensure that credits are no longer deleted from customer accounts.

Under the terms of the agreement, filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, the company will pay $540,000 in restitution to fund consumer relief initiatives. The Commonwealth will also receive $5,000 to reimburse it for the costs associated with the investigation.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Scott Schafer and Amber Anderson Villa of Attorney General Coakley’s Consumer Protection Division.

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AG Coakley Reaches $545,000 Settlement with WB Mason