Coupon handler sued for $150 million

MILWAUKEE -- More than 20 consumer products companies, including Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods Global Inc., have sued the nation's largest coupon handler, saying they lost at least $150 million in a coupon fraud scheme.

The companies, which also include PepsiCo Inc., General Mills Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Kellogg Co., filed suit against International Outsourcing Services LLC and several of its former officers Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

IOS, which does business in Bloomington, Ind., and El Paso, Texas, and several of its officers were charged in the same court in March with defrauding stores and manufacturers of at least $250 million over 10 years by submitting fake coupons to manufacturers for payment.

But the criminal charges against the company were dropped in May after company officials agreed to help prosecute 11 individuals charged, including nine IOS officers and two executives of New Jersey-based Riya Coupon Services.