Evergreen E-Pay Solutions Inc. sues Visa and three Belize banks owned by Lord Michael Ashcroft for billions in damages

MIAMI, May 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida-based Evergreen E-Pay Solutions charges it has incurred billions of dollars in damages in a newly filed federal lawsuit against Visa Inc., as well as three Belize banks in which UK businessman Lord Michael Ashcroft is a majority shareholder.

Evergreen E-Pay Solutions, an e-commerce payment processing company headquartered in Palm Coast, is claiming it was improperly terminated by the banks under pressure from Visa, which was allowing the banks to process international transactions without proper licensing, while turning a blind eye to some 800,000 Visa sales transactions fraudulently miscoded by defendant banks, processed by Credomatic International Corp. through VisaNet and settled through a Miami correspondent bank. The lawsuit contains 21 damage claims, including deceptive and unfair trade practices, fraud, breach of contract, negligence, aiding and abetting, and business defamation.

The lawsuit (1:16-cv-21695), filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, names defendants including: Visa, Inc., Visa International Service Association, Inc. Caribbean Investment Holdings LTD., BCB Holding, LTD, British Caribbean Bank International LTD, Belize Bank, LTD, Belize Bank international, LTD, Credomatic International Corp. and three bank officers.

According the lawsuit, up to $15 million of Visa credit and debit card transactions were processed between August, 2012 to February, 2014 by defendant banks for Evergreen's client merchants: Film World Media, Razzle Enterprises Ltd., and UAB Click2Sell Ltd. The Belize banks provided Visa card processing services for up to 800,000 international online purchases made by cardholders who were Internet customers of Evergreen's global merchants.

"Each of the disputed transactions were fraudulently miscoded as Belize retail sales transactions when they should have been coded cross-border, high-brand-risk transactions," said Evergreen attorney Joseph J. Pappacoda.

Pappacoda explained that by miscoding global online Visa sales transactions as local Belize sales the banks were able to engage in cross border Visa card processing for years in violation of Visa International Operating Regulations, as proper coding would have required Visa cross-border high brand risk merchant licensing that was impossible for defendant banks to qualify for.

Evergreen was stunned to learn it was being placed on Visa's infamous terminated merchant file list for alleged improprieties, Pappacoda said. Evergreen owner Robert Allen was told that defendant banks were terminating Evergreen, because of too many Visa sales charge backs, but soon discovered instead, the red-flag was fraudulent miscoding of international Visa transactions by defendant banks-leading to slightly excessive charge backs for January, 2014, all rooted in the fact that defendant banks were not licensed by Visa to process transactions outside the jurisdiction of Belize.

In 2015 the Supreme Court of Belize awarded Evergreen E-Pay Solutions $3.3 million for losses due to Belize Bank's termination of the agreement with Evergreen to provide online payment services and e-commerce Merchant referrals to the banks. The award has yet to be paid.

For more information go to: https://www.facebook.com/Evergreen-Epay-Solutions-Inc-Litigation-1727184744189821/ or Twitter: @TheEvergreen411. Contact attorney Joseph J. Pappacoda, (954-560-2616) or [email protected].

SOURCE Evergreen E-Pay Solutions Inc.