The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York announced that two men had been arrested and charged with various crimes in connection with debt collection activities that were ongoing since September 2005.
The U.S. Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint Friday in U.S. District Court charging these men, both of Buffalo, N.Y., with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse said the complaint alleges that, from September 2005 through the present, they were engaged in a fraudulent debt collection scheme in which they coerced monetary payments from their victims by means of false pretenses, false personation and false representations. The complaint states that the victims were individuals who at one time or another owed some type of debt that had gone into collection status.
According to the office, these men falsely told their victims that the victims had failed to respond to summonses, which would result in their imminent arrest. It is further alleged that they told the victims that the only way they could avoid apprehension and detention by law enforcement was to make substantial monetary payments, usually in a matter of hours. The complaint also charges that the defendants tried to avoid detection by changing the names of their businesses up to 18 times, and by using mail drops and "virtual offices." Deposits into accounts used by the defendants' businesses during the scheme were more than $8 million.
“These companies have been in violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act for years. In this day and age, it is important to know that there are Debt Collectors using illegal collections tactics. At Key Debt Services, we are committed to our customers and keep up on the day to day business of the Debt Collections industry. Our customers keep records and advise us of collections activities, and in cases such as these, we can help protect our customers from these criminal collectors. Our goal is to protect the consumer and work diligently to settle our client’s debts” said Wyatt Johnson, president of Key Debt Services.
