If you are going to scam consumers, why go to the hassle of trying to find new ones? Why not just scam people who have already been scammed? That appears to be what Frank Gebase did, and it resulted in a lawsuit being filed against him and the company he operated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who accused him of withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bank accounts of individuals who had already been victimized by another student loan debt relief scammer.
A copy of the complaint, as well as the stipulated final judgment, can be accessed by clicking here and here.
More than six years ago, the CFPB ordered a debt relief operation called Student Aid Institute to close its doors, after it was accused of charging upfront fees and making false promises to individuals with student loans. As it turns out, that operation leased office space from Gebase, and just before it was shut down, Gebase opened his own company, called Processingstudentloans. In 2016 and 2017, Processingstudentloans obtained the account and billing information of individuals who were formerly customers of Student Aid Institute, and started charging them $39, without the knowledge or consent of the individuals. Processingstudentloans stopped collecting fees after it had taken more than $240,000 from individuals.
As part of the terms of the judgment, Gebase will be required to pay a fine of $175,000 and has agreed to a lifetime ban from offering debt relief services and products.
The judgment must be approved by a judge before it can be finalized.
