Florida men charged in $425 million Yellow Pages scam

According to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, Mark Stuart Smith, Christopher Jon Gregory and Marian Phelan, since 2004, operated a company named United Directories and Yellow Pages United that was not connected with the well-known telephone Yellow Pages but mailed out millions of solicitations for ad renewals that looked like Yellow Page renewals for an existing listing. The renewals included the “walking fingers” logo, which is a non-trademarked symbol.

Records show that from June 2004 to December 2008, United Directories deposited more than $425 million in a Bank of America account.

All three were arrested Wednesday. Smith and Gregory were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. Phelan, who the complaint said appeared to be the bookkeeper, was charged with money laundering.