Indiana’s attorney general sues companies blamed for millions of robocalls across the US

Three companies that allegedly helped initiate tens of millions of robocalls in the US — including to people on Do Not Call registries — are being sued by the Indiana attorney general.

“Honestly, Hoosiers are sick and tired of these harassing and illegal unwanted robocalls. Everyone is,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said in an interview with CNN.

The suit, filed Thursday in the US District Court Southern District of Indiana Evansville Division, says that of the millions of robocalls made across the US, more than 4.8 million were to Indiana area codes.

The suit lists Startel Communications LLC of Evansville, Indiana, a now-defunct company; VoIP Essential, located in California; and Piratel LLC, also located in California, as defendants.

Rokita said in a video statement that Startel allegedly acted as a gateway into the US for robocallers operating out of India, Singapore and the Philippines.

The lawsuit also lists Wanda Hall and Abhijit Chowdhury as defendants, alleging they operated a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business that helped the robocallers.

The suit alleges the “robocallers made millions of illegal calls to Indiana residents, many of whom were on Indiana’s Do Not Call List and/or the Federal Do Not Call List…”