$250,000 judgment obtained against Fun Treasure Maps owner

MADISON -- The state Attorney General obtained a judgment of $250,000 against Racine resident Edward Zapencki. It resolves a consumer protection enforcement action stemming from Zapencki's advertising business known as Fun Treasure Maps. It's a scheme exposed by a FOX6 investigation in 2010 (view story below).

For more than a decade, Zapencki hawked his fun treasure maps to small business owners across the state, and raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars up front, then failed to produce the maps for years, if at all. After FOX6 investigated "Fast Eddie's" scheme, the state filed suit against Zapencki.

The State sued Zapencki at the request of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), which investigated Zapencki based on a large number of complaints.

Zapencki solicited small business owners to advertise on cartoon-style maps prepared for targeted Wisconsin communities.  Dating back to 2007, hundreds of businesses paid for advertising on Fun Treasure Maps that have never been produced.

The settlement requires Zapencki to pay restitution, forfeitures, and costs in the amount of $250,000. It reduces that amount by $50,000 if Zapencki delivers all outstanding maps by July 1, 2012. The settlement also prohibits Zapencki, with limited exception, from engaging in sales activities which result in advance payments from Wisconsin consumers for goods or services to be delivered in the future.  It also requires him to provide the state with complete information on his sales transactions and map deliveries since April 2007.