Following the arrest of Jeffrey Wayne O’Neil and his son, Nathaniel O’Neil aka Nathaniel Chilo, the indictment against the father son duo was unsealed.
The indictment states Jeffrey Wayne O’Neil operated various debt relief businesses in the Houston, Texas area under J. O’Neil/Associaties, World Outlook, World Outlook Management, Fair Credit Investigation Company, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and Universal Restoration.
Since 2005 and through most of 2010, Jeffrey and Nathaniel ran a debt relief scam which defrauded consumers of $617,000. The scheme operated like this, the duo enlisted advance fees from consumers that had problems with credit card debt, tax liens, mortgage foreclosures and judgments.
The scammers would claim debt relief would be available through a debt relief program or debt reconciliation program (DRP) with the Federal trade Commission, Senate Banking Committee, or Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Jeffrey O’Neil also falsely represented he was working with the government Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. They also claimed they could eliminate debt through injunctive relief and a novation agreement.
The United States Secret Service warned consumers:
These schemes are designed to defraud victims of an up-front fee that typically ranges from $400 to $7500. As a result of using a fraudulent scheme, victims could lose money and property, and damage their credit record. In addition, the creditor may take additional legal action against a borrower to resolve a fraudulent attempt to eliminate a borrower’s debt.
As part of the scam, consumers would receive a copy of a speech made by Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System which had been altered to falsely include statements about a debt reconciliation proposal sponsored by World Outlook Management.
As part of the scheme, the company the duo created, Fair Credit Investigation Company (FCIC) used the same initials as the official Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). Consumers were told to make payments for services payable to FCIC in order to get debt help.
Money collected by the father and son team was used for their own personal gain. – Source
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Steve, so glad to see that J. O’Neill will do time for his scam. A few years ago, I was getting inquiries routinely from people looking into that “program.” It was one of those insidious scams where people became “true believers,” defending Jeff on various forums because they had bought into a conspiracy-oriented mindset toward the banks. Good to see another scammer get what’s coming to him!
These cases take a while to roll up but you and I have been in the debt relief world long enough to know it takes time but seemingly ends badly for all serial scammers.
Secret Service. Jees these guys are way stupid or dumb