A federal court in Arizona permanently barred seven corporate defendants associated with Accelerated Debt Settlement from debt-relief services and telemarketing on October 14. Its default judgment enters $108,586,567.60 in monetary relief, while the FTC's October 22 announcement reports $106.8 million.
What the court ordered
The order covers Accelerated Debt Settlement Inc., ADS Resolve LLC, Financial Solutions Group LLC, Unified Capital Services LLC, Mediwerks, Resolution Specialists LLC and Futura Capital, LLC.
It prohibits advertising, marketing, promoting, offering or selling debt-relief products or services, and assisting others in those activities. It also prohibits telemarketing, directly or through an intermediary, and imposes restrictions on impersonation, misrepresentations and obtaining consumer information or credit reports.
The FTC says its complaint alleged that the operation impersonated banks and government entities, claimed it could reduce consumers' debt by as much as 75% or more, and targeted seniors and veterans. Those descriptions are the agency's account of its allegations. The corporate order is a default judgment; the individual defendants' earlier orders were stipulated agreements.
Two monetary discrepancies
Section VIII.A of the corporate order states $108,586,567.60 in both written words and figures. The announcement's $106.8 million figure differs from that amount. The documents read do not explain the difference.
The announcement also gives Robert Knechtel's judgment as $37,299,828. His linked March 27 order, Section VII.A, instead states $37,299,928, again with matching words and figures.
No later docket order was examined to establish whether either amount was subsequently changed. The figures here identify what each document says, without treating the announcement as an amendment to the court's orders.
Judgments are not completed refunds
The March 27 orders against Jeffrey Lakes and Elizabeth Reaney each enter $104,349,849 judgments, with partial suspension following specified asset transfers. Knechtel's order suspends his judgment subject to its financial-disclosure conditions. Each individual neither admits nor denies the complaint's allegations except as specifically stated in the respective order.
The corporate order continues a receivership and directs liquidation. Money received by the FTC may be used for consumer relief, with provisions for other related relief if direct redress is impracticable or money remains. The records do not establish how much has been collected, a refund amount for any consumer or a completed distribution.