The Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement on Monday, March 20, 2018 in regards to debt collection agencies 4 Star Resolution LLC, Profile Management Inc., International Recovery Service LLC, Check Solutions Services Inc., Check Fraud Service LLC and Fourstar Revenue Management LLC. The agencies were found guilty of a $31 million debt collection scheme in 2015, resulting in the ban of multiple agencies and individuals.
The involved parties were found guilty of manipulating consumers into paying off debt by falsifying their identity as debt collectors. These agencies created fake identities in order to persuade consumers to pay off questionable debts, and in some instances put on law enforcement facades, threatened law suits and jail time if debt went unpaid by consumers.
According to the press release from the FTC dated March 22, 2018:
The orders against Travell Thomas, 4 Star Resolution LLC, Profile Management Inc., International Recovery Service LLC, Check Solutions Services Inc., Check Fraud Service LLC and Fourstar Revenue Management LLC and against Maurice Sessum impose a $30 million judgment that will be partially suspended upon the surrender of certain assets. The order against Charles Blakely III and Merchant Recovery Service, Inc. imposes an $18,789,000 judgment that will be partially suspended upon the surrender of certain assets. The assets to be surrendered in these settlements include more than $1 million in corporate and individual assets frozen by the court. In each case, the full judgment will become due immediately if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
