Three marketers who allegedly sold phony debt relief services, including fake loans, have agreed to be banned from selling debt relief, credit repair and financial products and services, to be banned from telemarketing, and to turn over assets worth approximately $35 million dollars, under settlements with the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida.
The settlement orders, if entered by the court, will resolve the agencies’ charges against Jeremy Lee Marcus, Craig Davis Smith and Yisbet Segrea, who allegedly convinced people to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars a month by falsely promising to resolve their debts and improve their credit. Over time, victims found their debts unpaid, their accounts in default, and their credit scores lower – some were sued by their creditors, and some were forced into bankruptcy.
The proposed orders impose a $85,326,648.45 judgment against each of the settling defendants, jointly and severally. The order against Marcus, the scheme’s alleged ringleader, is not suspended and requires him to surrender all of his material assets, including 20 residential properties, a 2015 Range Rover, a 2015 BMW i8, a 5.03 carat diamond ring, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Louis Vuitton watches, rare coins, a bottle of 1969 Duncan Taylor single malt scotch whisky, and other personal property and financial interests. These assets are estimated to be worth approximately $34 million.
The judgment against Smith and Segrea will be suspended in part once they have surrendered all of their material assets, including a 2014 Tesla Model S P85, Rolex and Movado watches, and certain bank accounts. These assets are estimated to be worth approximately $1 million.
In addition to the banned activities, the settlements prohibit Marcus, Smith and Segrea from misrepresenting any product, service, plan or program, and from making unsubstantiated claims about any product or service. With regard to Smith and Segrea, the full judgment will become due immediately if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
The FTC’s complaint against Marcus, Smith and Segrea, filed in May 2017, also named 11 corporate defendants and 12 relief defendants that profited from the scheme. In August 2017, the FTC filed an amended complaint adding Viking Management Services LLC, Cockburn & Associate LLC, Omni Management Partners, HP Media Inc., White Light Media LLC and Discount Marketing USA S.A. as corporate defendants, and Jack Marcus, Teresa Duda and James Marcus as relief defendants.
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how come there are no updates on this case yet?
Are they going to do any time?! Will there be criminal proceedings? I see NOTHING of mentioning a criminal investigation. So much money stolen! People have gone to prison for much much less, and they deserve it! Steve deserves the traffic – it’s not like he stole anyone’s money, looser. What about all the people who went bankrupt and had their credit demolished??
The FTC has no criminal authority. They would have to refer it to another agency who would be willing to and have the budget/time to proceed against the people. The reality is they will probably not face criminal charges nor serve time.
What about the FL attorney general being involved? I agree this should be made more public versus barely being exposed.
Their settlement was probably predicated on avoiding criminal action. However, I stand ready to be surprised.
It’s unbelievable and should not be let to stand!
All victims should contact the Florida Attorney Generals office by simply filling out this form
http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Attorney_General
Have your voice heard!
Also –
The Miami FBI Field Office can be contacted at (754) 703-2000 – Maybe if you tell your story someone will actually press criminal charges.
These people stole over 85 Million Dollars and should NOT get a walk. They ruined lives. It’s shameful and disgusting. People have gone to prison for much much less!
what happens next? how do people get their money back?
You will have to watch your mail for a notice of a small reimbursement check from the receiver once he is done gathering all the money together that was recovered. As far as your debt issues go, that’s all back on you now.
Thank you for your help in this matter. I will patiently wait to hear something. I hope it is sonn.
Why do you say small? If they have 15000 victims and over 35,000,000 recovered that’s estimated 2500 per individual. They’re looking to recover closer to 80 million.
Based on historical experience, when people only eventually receive a fraction of what they paid in, it certainly feels small. Time will tell.
Maybe you should try telling both sides of the story instead of just trying to drive traffic to your debt company. Get a life!