The Federal Trade Commission has announced a settlement with the final defendant and “ringleader” of a student loan debt relief scam that bilked consumers out of nearly $9 million that will see the individual permanently banned from the debt relief industry and required to turn over assets to satisfy a $7.4 million judgment.
The Background: The defendants collected nearly $9 million in upfront fees from individuals looking for relief from their student loan payments. The individuals were promised that their student loan payments would be lowered or completely eliminated, but first had to pay a fee for services that were available through the Department of Education.
- Individuals were told to stop communicating with the servicers of their student loans and provided their bank account, credit card, or debit card information to process the upfront fees.
- The defendants were accused of continuing their alleged scam even after settling claims with the Attorney General of Minnesota that they misrepresented their services, collected unlawful advance fees, and failed to secure the appropriate licenses.
- All of the other defendants settled with the FTC in February, agreeing to permanent bans from making any misrepresentations about financial products and services and from using false statements to collect consumers’ financial information.
The Settlement: The remaining defendant, Marco Manzi, will turn over his Robinhood account, which will be liquidated and transferred to the FTC. How much is in the account was not disclosed. Manzi also agreed to the permanent ban from the debt relief industry, as well as telemarketing.
