A federal jury has convicted a 44-year-old woman previously banned from operating in the collection industry of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of illegitimate debt collection operations that she was running. Angela Burdorf will face up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million when she is sentenced in late November.
Burdorf’s operations used fraudulent means to collect on debts, collect on debts that had already been paid, collect amounts that exceeded what was actually owed, and to process and transfer payments related to the collection of these debts, according to prosecutors.
- Consumers were lied to and threatened when contacted by representatives working for Burdorf. The representatives referenced criminal statutes, threatened to file criminal complaints or arrest warrants, and routinely posed as attorneys during calls with consumers, as a means of intimidating consumers and collecting payments.
- This is not Burdorf’s first rodeo when it comes to operating illegal collection operations. The Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General sued Burdorf and a number of other individuals and companies back in 2015 for operating and “egregious and abusive debt collection operation.” Burdorf settled with the FTC and New York AG back in 2018. As part of that settlement, she was banned from participating in the collections industry forever. Judgments of more than $26 million were entered against the defendants, including Burdorf and Vantage Point Services, but were suspended because the defendants were unable to pay. At the time, Burdorf was associated with Greg Mackinnon, who was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the scam.
- She was indicted back in 2022 before going on trial and being found guilty.
