Archive

February 11, 2015

Ohio Attorney General DeWine announced a lawsuit against Buffalo-based debt collector Nationwide Recovery Group LLC and its owner, Michael P. McCarthy, for violating the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by allegedly impersonating Ohio government agencies and threatening consumers with arrest while attempting to collect debts. While operating in Ohio, the business also allegedly used the fictitious names Gallagher Mediation and the Law Firm of John McGuire to mislead consumers. OH

February 11, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced Advance America will pay Pennsylvania consumers $8M in restitution as part of a settlement to resolve claims the company illegally provided payday loans, some with interest rates as high as 368 percent. PA

February 9, 2015

The FTC obtained a $9.5M judgment against sweepstakes promoter Crystal Ewing for deceptively enticing consumers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom to send money to collect large cash prizes that, in fact, did not exist. FTC

February 9, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced felony charges against Khawaja Saud Masud for stealing over $1M from a retired pediatrician and his wife by fraudulently soliciting them to invest in his purported hedge fund RKS Capital, LP. NY

February 5, 2105

A group of Utah-based defendants led by Philip J. Danielson and his company, Danielson Law Group, settled FTC charges that they broke the law by conning consumers into paying hefty fees for worthless mortgage relief services. The five proposed orders settling the FTC’s charges ban the defendants from offering mortgage assistance relief services and from participating in the debt relief industry. According to the FTC, defendants lured consumers into paying $500 to $3,900 by falsely promising that attorneys would negotiate loan modifications that would substantially reduce the consumers’ mortgage payments. The complaint also alleged that the defendants used the name Danielson Law Group and other attorney or law firm names to look like they had lawyers all over the country, even though many consumers never met or spoke to an attorney. FTC

February 5, 2015

The CFTC ordered Isaiah Goldman and Brock Catronio, individually, and their companies, Paramount Metals Exchange, LLC and Paramount Credit, LLC, both of Delray Beach, Florida, to pay over $2.5 million in sanctions for engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions.  CFTC

February 4, 2015

The CFTC ordered Brian S. Ekasala, a resident of Lake Worth, Florida, and his company, Midwest Metals Exchange, LLC, to pay over $500,000 for engaging in an illegal, off-exchange precious metals transaction scheme.  CFTC

February 4, 2015

Chief Judge Linda R. Reade of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa ordered U.S. Bank National Association to pay $18 million dollars to be returned to Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. customers over allegations of misappropriation of customer funds.  CFTC

February 3, 2015

Judge Cormac J. Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered an emergency restraining order freezing assets and prohibiting the destruction or concealment of books and records of defendants Christopher Valois, Cynthia Wong, and their companies, Bertram Trade LLC and Churchhill Commodities Trading LLC, all of Orange County California.  The judge set a hearing date for February 12, 2015.  CFTC

February 3, 2015

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, along with the DOJ and the attorneys general of 18 states and the District of Columbia, announced a settlement with Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (S&P) and its parent company McGraw-Hill Financial Inc. to resolve federal and state civil claims related to S&P’s conduct in inflating ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities and structured investment vehicle notes. Combined with a separate settlement also announced today resolving a lawsuit filed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), S&P will pay a total of $1.5B to federal and state government entities. The State of California will recover $210M in damages, from which CalPERS and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) will receive allocations for their losses on investments of certain S&P-rated securities. Separately, S&P will also pay CalPERS $125M to settle CalPERS’ specific lawsuit. The remainder of the total settlement proceeds will be distributed amongst the DOJ and the other nineteen attorneys general. CA