FTC Finishes Off Scam Debt Collection Agency with "Bags of Money" Ties

The Federal Trade Commission Tuesday announced that it has won a court judgment and entered settlements with a scam debt collection agency and its owners that officially shutters and liquidates the business for good and permanently bars the owners and principals from working in debt collection ever again.

The FTC accused the firm of using abusive collection tactics under fictitious names to chase debts that consumers often did not owe. A federal judge temporarily halted the operation in October while the investigation continued.

The company, operating under many names but primarily Pinnacle Payment Services, ran offices in Atlanta and Cleveland and appears to be a branch of the Tobias “Bags of Money” Boyland scam debt collection empire.

In addition to being banned from debt collection, Pinnacle’s assets will be liquidated – along with some assets of seven principal defendants – to help pay a $9.4 million judgment. Even after the liquidations, much of the judgment will be suspended due to the defendants’ inability to pay because they suck at everything, including crime.

“The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to ensure that debt collectors do not use abusive tactics to coerce consumers into making payments,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In this case, Pinnacle threatened many consumers by telling them their bank accounts would be closed, their wages garnished, they would face felony fraud charges, or they would be arrested if they failed to pay the phantom debts. This is unacceptable, and the Commission will act swiftly to stop such flagrant law violations.”

According to an FTC complaint filed in 2013, the Pinnacle defendants used fictitious business names that implied an affiliation with a law firm or a law enforcement agency, such as Global Legal Services, Allied Litigation Group, and Dockets Liens & Seizures. Using robocalls and voice messages that threatened legal action and arrest unless consumers responded within a few days, the defendants collected millions of dollars in payment for phantom debts – debts many of the consumers contacted did not owe. Their illegal practices generated nearly 3,000 complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database.

The settlements with the corporate defendants and individual defendants Dorian Wills, Lisa Jeter, Nichole Anderson, Hope Wilson, Demarra Massey, and Angela Triplett and the default judgment against Tobias Boyland ban the defendants from debt collection activities, including helping anyone else engage in debt collection or selling debts.

If you vaguely recognize the name Tobias Boyland, congratulations, you have a good memory. Boyland is one of the names – “Bags of Money” being another – used by a man that began his scammy debt collection operations in Buffalo. Boyland was featured on Dateline NBC in 2009, which led to action from the New York AG.

But that wasn’t the end of it. When authorities were investigating the debt collection abuses, they found illegal weapons leading to more overtly criminal charges. He then skipped bail and went on the run. When he was apprehended, he got a whole bunch of jail time.

With his freedom already compromised, the FTC’s recent actions seem to have also stripped Boyland of some remaining assets. Under the court order, at least two investment accounts and three real properties will be liquidated.