MARBLEHEAD — A Suffolk Superior Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring a Marblehead oil business from continuing to engage in what the attorney general's office alleges are fraudulent practices.
Judge Charles Spurlock issued the injunction at the request of lawyers in Martha Coakley's office, who last week filed a civil complaint against Anita and Peter G. Davekos and their oil business, which operates under several names, including Astrofuel, Apollo Oil and Anchor Oil.
The order bars the company from continuing to improperly file mechanics liens against homeowners over disputed oil bills (mechanics liens are not intended for that purpose, under state law), prohibits them from continuing to use delivery cards that fail to specify all of the fees and terms of their oil delivery, and bars them from doing business in any city or town where they have not filed a business certificate, said Jill Butterworth, a spokeswoman for the attorney general.
The Davekoses and their businesses have come under scrutiny several times in recent years. Last year, The Salem News and a local television station reported on dozens of what Southern Essex Register of Deeds John O'Brien has called questionable mechanics liens filed against homeowners across the North Shore.
The liens, which are supposed to be available only to contractors or other business owners who have done work to the structure of a home or on major systems like the boiler or air-conditioning unit, were being filed quietly and, O'Brien and the attorney general's office say, in violation of the statute.
Homeowners were never notified of the liens, and Anita Davekos never went to court to "perfect" the liens by proving their validity to a judge, the attorney general alleged.
New York City Seeks Big Drink Ban
Los Angeles Bans Plastic Grocery Bags
Raw Video: SpaceX Dragon Leaves Space Station
Horse Prep Ahead of Queen's Jubilee
New Lab Turns SD Gold Town Into Scientific Hub
Police: Gunman Kills 5, Self in Seattle
Spelling Bee's Youngest Ever Doesn't Advance
Police: Seattle Cafe Gunman May Have Shot Self
No Limits for Disabled Hunters at Mich. Base
Victim Identified in Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Radioactive Bluefin Tuna Crossed the Pacific
90 Guns Seized, Dozens Arrested in Oakland
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Judge's Ruling Halts Tenn. Mosque Construction
Romney in Las Vegas on Texas Primary Day
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
