Debt firms used social media to "smear" and harass people, feds say
CBSN
A group of debt collectors in upstate New York went after their targets by calling friends, family and employers and orchestrating "smear campaigns" against people they claimed owed money, federal regulators said.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the New York Attorney General on Monday said they shut down a ring of debt collection firms who were going after debtors using illegal techniques. Since 2015, these companies engaged in what one target called "emotional terrorism," calling friends, family members and employers to put pressure on people who owed money, according to a lawsuit filed in 2020 and settled this week for $4 million.
The companies were owned by Christopher Di Re, Scott Croce and Susan Croce, and managed by Brian Koziel and Marc Gracie, according to the settlement. The companies shared a single address in Getzville, New York, and operated under many names: JPL Recovery Solutions; Regency One Capital; ROC Asset Solutions; API Recovery Solutions and Northern Information Services; Check Security Associates; Warner Location Services; Pinnacle Location Services; Orchard Payment Processing Systems; Keystone Recovery Group and Blue Street Asset Partners.
