Attorney General returns $9.5M to consumers in 2008

The Missouri Attorney General's Office returned a record $9.5 million in restitution last year through informal mediation.

The amount, brought in by the office's Consumer Protection Division, breaks the previous record of $9.3 million set in 2007, according to a news release.

The informal mediation process occurs by communicating via phone, e-mail and mail with consumers and businesses that received complaints, without going to court.

In cases of consumer complaints that did require legal intervention, an additional $6 million in restitution was recorded in 2008. The division's attorneys obtained 11 criminal convictions, 29 assurances of voluntary compliance and 36 judgments in civil cases during the year, according to the release.

The division also obtained judgments of $722,000 in penalties paid to Missouri schools, $3.57 million for enforcement of consumer laws and consumer education, and $200,000 for antitrust law enforcement.

The office handled more than 12,000 contacts from consumers through a telephone hotline, e-mail, faxes and regular mail last year. Those contacts included more than 40,000 formal complaints.

The office has returned more than $51 million to consumers through informal mediation efforts since 1993, the release said.

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