Zoeller seeks protection for Hoosiers
INDIANAPOLIS—Attorney General Greg Zoeller said he has more work than he has lawyers. At a press conference, he said he has started numerous programs to help keep Hoosiers protected from issues such as fraud and corruption.
Zoeller talked at length about the challenges he faced in his first year as attorney general. He said the work load often had outstripped the resources available.
Zoeller said if the attorney general’s office were run like a law firm he would be celebrating with all the extra work. The problem is that he can’t hire new attorneys to help out with the extra work, Zoeller said.
Zoeller said a big concern is phone privacy.
“We’re seeing less violations from legitimate telemarketers,” said Zoeller, “(and) many more violations from people who are literally looking to scam people in Indiana.”
He said he is also concerned about people who work licensing businesses.
“When the economy suffers,” said Zoeller, “they are tempted to charge things that are unnecessary.”
“The reality of the economy is very noticeable in the office of the Attorney General,” said Zoeller.
He wants to catch consumer violators before he gets hundreds of complaints, he said. One way to do this is to do as much as possible to keep consumers informed of scams, he added.
“You have to be aggressive on the front end,” said Zoeller, “in order to focus on (consumer) protection.”
By the time he gets complaints from the hundred victims “it’s too late to protect,” said Zoeller.
Another big issue is the area of public corruption, said Zoeller.
“The economy leads to additional temptations,” said Zoeller.
He said last session the state board of accounts gave his office more authority to help his office be able to get a head start on violators.
“Now, even before an audit is certified,” said Zoeller, “we can go in and look to put leans against property… we can kind of tight up resources where there’s likely to be criminal charges.”
Zoeller said the number one problem with corruption in Indiana, and around the country, is identity theft. Zoeller proposed a law that passed back in the 2009 Legislature to try to be tougher on identity theft criminals.
“We also tried to get out ahead of the things that you can see coming,” said Zoeller about the Internet Crimes Against Children program.
Zoeller said the state brought in Microsoft to help law enforcement get up to speed on catching internet predators.
Zoeller said he also focused on homeowners’ protection, especially because of the condition of the economy.
He said his office has had to come up with a way to address all of the foreclosures of the last year.
“I think we’re over a thousand attorneys,” said Zoeller, “that have been trained in how to work with people facing foreclosure.”
“It’s another area where we have been pretty aggressive at going after those people who prey on those that are being foreclosed.”
