Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today filed a lawsuit and attached the home of former F&S Oil Co. president Christopher T. Carr and his wife for illegally selling prepaid home heating oil contracts to thousands of consumers and for fraudulently transferring title to his Fairfield home to his wife.
The lawsuit – filed in addition to legal action already pending against the F&S companies – alleges that Carr, through the companies, misled thousands of consumers into entering prepaid home heating oil contracts.
The companies collapsed in March, failing to deliver millions of gallons of fuel oil owed to consumers who had already paid the companies in full and in advance. The consumers lost their deposits and have been forced to purchase fuel oil from other sources, often at a higher rate.
The lawsuit also alleges that Carr transferred his personal Fairfield home to his wife, Hilary, for $0 and “love and affection” mere days after he was fired from F&S – a transfer allegedly intended to hinder, delay or defraud the state and other creditors by shielding it from civil action.
The lawsuit seeks a court order providing restitution for consumers and voiding the fraudulent property transfer. “Carr sold consumers a bill of goods, collecting millions of dollars for home heating oil, only to leave them out in the cold,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Carr was reckless with consumers’ money, and fraudulently shielded his own when his misconduct came to light. My office will aggressively pursue every asset possible to return money to consumers harmed by Carr’s misconduct.”
