The remaining defendants in a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission have reached a settlement, under which they will be permanently banned from participating in the collection industry as well as surrender funds in a number of bank accounts and the title to a Mercedes as part of a $12 million judgment that has been partially suspended.
A copy of the settlement in the case of FTC v. National Landmark Logistics et al can be accessed by clicking here.
The FTC filed its complaint against the defendants back in August 2020, as part of its Operation Corrupt Collector crackdown. The defendants allegedly collected more than $5 million as part of the scam, in which consumers received automated robocalls letting them know that they were about to be served with important papers or be the subject of an audit. When they called the number mentioned on the robocall, the consumers were then told, by operators who purported themselves to work at a law firm or mediation company, that the consumers had an unpaid credit card debt and were facing arrest or legal action. The operators had no such authority to arrest anyone and never planned on taking any legal action — both violations of federal law.
Some of the defendants reached a settlement earlier this year with the FTC.
In the most recent settlement, National Landmark Logistics, National Landmark Service of United Recovery, Silverlake Landmark Recovery Group, and Jean Cellent have each been permanently banned from debt collecting as well as buying and selling debt and making misrepresentations to consumers about any goods or services. The settlement also includes a judgment for more than $12 million, which is being partially suspended because of the defendants’ inability to repay it. They are required to surrender the assets in more than three dozen bank accounts, as well as the title to a 2013 Mercedes and either $67,500 or the title to a property in Philadelphia.
