CAMCO shut down!!!!!

[bigun]

What is the name of your state?

[url]http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/1130822.html[/url]



Debt Collection Company Is Being Investigated
Rockford
Laura Gibbs

The Federal Trade Commission comes in and shuts down a debt collection company in Rockford.

Just after 4 Monday, over 100 employees at Capital Acquisitions and Management Corporation or CAMCO were told to get their personal belongings and leave. The FTC filed a complaint against CAMCO in U.S. District court on December 2, 2004. The next day, a judge appointed Receiver Corporation to lead the investigation. Now this business has been shut down indefinitely.

Back in March, CAMCO was ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. At that time, the FTC charged that CAMCO engaged in abusive and deceptive ways to collect money. Among the list of complaints then were harassing consumers at the workplace, misrepresenting themselves as attorneys and threatening to take action that could not legally be taken. Now 8 months later, investigators say the complaints have not stopped.

President of Receiver Corporation, Jay Steinberg says, "There are no allegations of fraud. It's the method used to collect money. These are receivables over 10 years old so you can't go to court and sue. The allegations are by people that have been threatened by lawsuits."

The FTC seized all computers, froze the company’s assets and has changed the locks in order to prevent any records from being taken out of the building. Workers were hesitant to go on camera but via phone conversations tell 23 News that they new something was going on when they didn't get their paychecks today. Workers who had direct deposit noticed that money was not added by CAMCO to their account.

Steinberg says, "If they had ceased and assisted when they were supposed to, we wouldn't be here now. It's a pretty severe remedy, but it's a pretty severe violation to keep allegedly doing what you do and still do it to the consumers."

CAMCO is a subsidiary of RM Financial Services which is in Georgia. In March CAMCO, RM, two vice presidents and two debt collection managers were all defendants in the March court documents. That is who will again have to prove that they did not violate the law. If that happens CAMCO would be re-opened. If not, the company would be liquidated and consumers who filed complaints would be paid.

[ihatearizona]

"they new something was going on when they didn't get their paychecks today. Workers who had direct deposit noticed that money was not added by CAMCO to their account".

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Now maybe THEY will start receiving collection calls!

[bigun]

What I hope happens next, is the owners get the same treatment from the FTC that the owners of NCC are getting. Go after their personal assets. Leave 'em with a bar of "soap-on-a-rope".

[url]http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/10/checkinvestors.htm[/url]


For Release: October 7, 2004

National Check Control Relief Defendant Settles FTC Charges

A relief defendant in a case against a defunct New Jersey collection agency charged with dunning consumers for debts they did not owe has agreed to turn over money she obtained as a result of the alleged scheme. Elisabeth M. Sussman, wife of collection agency owner Barry Sussman, will turn over approximately $600,000 to the Federal Trade Commission under a settlement agreement with the agency. The FTC’s legal action against Barry Sussman and four other defendants continues.

In a complaint filed in May 2003, the FTC alleged that the defendants violated federal laws by harassing consumers and threatening them with arrest and prosecution unless the consumers immediately paid the collection agency money they did not owe for checks returned for insufficient funds. The defendants allegedly harassed consumers with repeated phone calls, sent threatening letters, and falsely threatened that consumers could face civil or criminal charges if they did not pay the debts. The FTC alleged that, in many cases, the defendants collected amounts far in excess of any amounts that consumers might have owed.

The FTC’s complaint named as defendants Check Investors, Inc. (d/b/a National Check Control), Check Enforcement, Inc. (d/b/a Goldman Check Systems), Jaredco, Inc. (d/b/a Goldman & Co.), their principal, Barry Sussman, and their corporate counsel, Charles T. Hutchins, as well as Elisabeth Sussman. When it filed the settlement with Elisabeth Sussman, the FTC also filed an amended complaint naming Ms. Sussman as a relief defendant. According to the amended complaint, Elisabeth Sussman unlawfully received funds and other property from consumer payments to her husband’s agencies.

The FTC received substantial assistance in pursuing this matter from Postal Inspectors from the North Jersey/Caribbean Division; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey; and the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety. In addition, the FTC would like to thank the following states for their invaluable assistance in investigating this matter and bringing the complaint: Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file an amended complaint and approving a stipulated final order as to relief defendant Elisabeth Sussman was 5-0. The amended complaint and settlement were entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on October 5, 2004.

Note: This stipulated final order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. A stipulated final order requires approval by the court and has the force of law when signed by the judge.

[Ladynred]

Gee.. and all those collectors didn't get paid and it was apparently time for bonus payouts too. Awwww.. too bad.. so sad. I don't feel sorry for the nasty ones, but I do feel sorry for their kids. All the company had to do was BEHAVE !!
I hope they STAY shut down !

[bigun]

Holy Cow! What scum. More news.

[url]http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/12/camco.htm[/url]

For Release: December 8, 2004

FTC Asks Court to Halt Illegal Camco Operation

Company Uses Threats, Lies, and Intimidation to Collect “Debts” Consumers Do Not Owe

In the face of more than 2,000 consumer complaints, the FTC has asked a U.S. District court to order a halt to the harassing, intimidating, deceptive, and illegal ‘debt collection’ practices of Capital Acquisitions & Management (CAMCO). At the agency’s request, the court has frozen the assets of the company and its principals and appointed a receiver to oversee the corporate records and assets, pending trial. The FTC will seek a permanent halt to the illegal threats and lies the defendants use to attempt to collect “time-barred” debts – debts so old that they are beyond the statute of limitations, and cannot appear on credit reports – and debts consumers never incurred and did not owe.

In March 2004, the FTC charged that CAMCO, RM Financial, and their principals were threatening and harassing thousands of consumers to get them to pay old, unenforceable debts or debts they did not owe. The agency alleged that their abusive and deceptive collection practices violated federal law, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The companies and individuals paid a $300,000 civil penalty to settle the FTC charges, and were barred from engaging in abusive, deceptive, and illegal collection practices in the future.

In the eight months since that settlement, the FTC has received more than 2,000 consumer complaints about CAMCO’s illegal tactics – three times more than the agency received in the two years before the settlement.

In papers filed with the court, the agency charged that as much as 80 percent of the money CAMCO collects comes from consumers who never owed the original debt in the first place. Many consumers pay the money to get CAMCO to stop threatening and harassing them, their families, their friends, and their co-workers.

According to the FTC, CAMCO buys old debt lists that frequently contain no documentation about the original debt and in many cases no Social Security Number for the original debtor. CAMCO makes efforts to find people with the same name in the same geographic area and tries to collect the debt from them – whether or not they are the actual debtor. In papers filed with the court, the FTC alleges that CAMCO agents told consumers – even consumers who never owed the money – that they were legally obligated to pay. They told consumers that if they did not pay, CAMCO could have them arrested and jailed, seize their property, garnish their wages, and ruin their credit. All of those threats were false, according to the FTC.

According to the FTC, grossly abusive behavior, including shouting and profanity, are commonplace tactics with CAMCO. Collectors told consumers:

We’re “going to hound you ‘til the day you die;”


We will “continue to hunt you;” and


“We’ll get you one way or another.”
CAMCO collectors also ignored restrictions on who and when they could call.

The FTC suit asks the court to order a permanent bar on the operation’s illegal activities and order redress for consumers.

In addition to CAMCO, the complaint names RM Financial Services, Inc., Capital Properties Holdings, Inc., Caribbean Asset Management, Ltd., Reese Waugh, Jerome Kuebler, Eric Woldoff, George Othon, and Jeffrey Garrington.

CAMCO’s offices are located in Rockford and Schaumberg, Illinois. RM Financial is based in Marietta, Georgia. Caribbean Asset Management is based in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, in Chicago, Illinois.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.

[foolsmission]

I bet the resident board bully here has everyone in his office wearing "Free the Camco 100" tee-shirts.