Four promotional product companies and their principals have agreed to a $3.55 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against them for fixing prices on promo items that included silicone wristbands.

Nancy F. Atlas, a senior federal judge in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, approved the settlement in an order issued this week. The court set aside about $1.06 million for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees. It also awarded $60,162 in reimbursement for the attorneys’ expenses.

Plaintiffs in the case were Kimberly Kjessler, Klaire Rueckert, Laura Braley, Timothy Hayden and Summer Lang. Liable companies and individuals named in the case were identified in court papers as Zaappaaz, Inc. and its president Azim Makanojiya; Netbrands Media Corp. and its executive Mashnoon Ahmed; Gennex Media, LLC (aka Brandeco L.L.C.) and its CEO AK Kurji; and Custom Wristbands and its CEO Christopher Angeles.

According to the plaintiffs’ suit, the defendants conspired to set prices on promo products sold online via text messages, meetings and social media messaging platforms from as early as May 2014 until at least June 2016. Victims included churches, charities and nonprofits. Beyond wristbands, the conspirators fixed prices on lanyards, temporary tattoos and buttons, authorities maintain.

Investigators previously identified Kurji and Ahmed as the scheme’s “masterminds.”

In May 2019, a judge sentenced Ahmed to six months in jail and imposed three years of supervised release and a $20,000 fine, according to public court records. Ahmed was at the time identified as an owner and CEO of Houston, TX-based Netbrands Media, which did business as 24hourwristbands.com and imprint.com (asi/230822), records show.

Kurji pleaded guilty in April 2019 to federal criminal charges for his role in the scheme. He and his company were handed nearly $780,000 in fines, and he served eight months in prison. Kurji is the founder of supplier PMGOA (asi/79982) and has also been identified as a principal executive at Brandeco LLC, which has done business online under the name BrandNex.com (asi/145204). Recently diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, Kurji has stepped down from managing Texas-based PMGOA, but remains a shareholder in the company.

AK Kurji of Gennex/PMGOA

In an exclusive interview with Counselor, Kurji said he’s turned over a new leaf and is focusing his energies on Swagify.com, a technology-driven startup focused on white label on-demand order fulfillment and warehousing of products that include apparel, accessories, and home and living items.

In August 2017, California-based Custom Wristbands Inc. agreed to plead guilty in a federal criminal case on charges of conspiring to fix prices. The company has done business under names that include Kulayful Silicone Bracelets and Kulayful.com, a lawsuit says.

During the same month, Makanojiya and Zaappaaz Inc., which has done business under names that include WB Promotions Inc. (asi/353290), pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix prices for customized promotional products sold online. Makanojiya’s company has also done business as Wrist-band.com and Customlanyard.net.

A #promoproducts firm is in hot water with the FTC, which alleges the company took advantage of the #pandemic to rip off consumers on #PPE sales. The company's founder previously pleaded guilty to price fixing. https://t.co/8uPWrNwkiD @asicentral @ASI_MBell @Tim_Andrews_ASI

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) August 6, 2020

In August 2020, Makanojiya found himself in hot water again – this time with the Federal Trade Commission. In a case unrelated to the price fixing scandal, the FTC announced it was suing Makanojiya and Zaappaaz for violating the Mail, Internet and Telephone Order Rule (Mail Order Rule) by failing to deliver on promises that it would quickly ship products like face masks, sanitizer and other personal protective equipment (PPE) related to the coronavirus pandemic.