{"id":12473,"date":"2015-06-01T16:16:16","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T23:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12473"},"modified":"2015-06-01T16:16:16","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T23:16:16","slug":"two-admit-scamming-consumers-through-phony-debt-relief-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12473","title":{"rendered":"Two Admit Scamming Consumers Through Phony Debt Relief Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALIFORNIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"criminal_justice_jurisprudence<\/a>Two people\u00a0Athena Maldonado<\/strong>, 30, and Christopher Harati,<\/strong> 31, both of Orange County, California, plead guilty Monday to duping consumers by portraying debt relief companies as law firms and attorney-based companies that would negotiate favorable settlements with creditors, according to federal officials.<\/p>\n

Clients also made monthly payments expecting the money to go toward settlements.\u00a0 The companies instead took an amount equal to at least 15 percent of clients\u2019 total debt as company fees, with the first six months of payments going almost entirely toward undisclosed up-front fees, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDebt relief service scams prey on vulnerable consumers trying to climb out of tough financial situations,\u201d said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Division<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The debt relief companies were known as Nelson Gamble & Associates (Nelson Gamble) and Jackson Hunter Morris & Knight LLP (Jackson Hunter).<\/p>\n

These are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case:<\/strong><\/p>\n