A final order has been issued by a District Court judge and two defendants have been banned from the collections industry, an action that is part of Operation Collection Protection, a joint state and federal crackdown on collections using illegal tactics.
Mark Briandi and William Moses, along with 13 companies that were collectively known as Federal Check Processing also had an $11 million judgment imposed on them as part of the order. The District Court granted a request from the Federal Trade Commission for a summary judgment.
The defendants were accused of pretending to be affiliated with the government, accusing consumers of committing check fraud, and threatening to have them arrested or sued.
The charges were originally laid nearly three years ago.
