Stocks, Forex and Other Money Matters

Last Thursday, a man who ran a debt buying company in Florida was sentenced to six years of federal prison time for the crime of selling debt portfolios that he did not own. Steven Goldberg, of Golberg and Associates in Boca Raton, took the heat from the District Judge who slapped him with 71 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Goldberg pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and eight counts of wire fraud.

Authorities say that Goldberg would give falsified files and fake evidence that he owned the files. To add insult to injury, Goldberg also sent buyers bogus transaction numbers and other fake financial information. All in all, debt buyers were hoodwinked for more than $3.3 million. Investigative reports revealed that many well-respected accounts receivable management companies were swindled.

Parties involved were the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Boca Raton Police Department. Federal criminal charges against Goldberg have been satisfied, but there are still many many civil cases pending against him.

Although the federal criminal charges against Goldberg have been satisfied, there are still numerous civil cases pending against him. An official from a major collections company weighed in with his opinion.

“Our industry doesn’t do an adequate job of policing itself,” he said. “Debt buying companies should be more methodical when they screen members for criminal backgrounds. Goldberg had prior convictions, including felonies.”

The debt collection industry can do many things to protect itself, experts believe. Publishing a list of any lawsuits that one member files against another member, or requiring criminal background checks would be good ideas. Either way, Goldberg has a long vacation in jail scheduled, and when he gets out, you better believe that any money he owes in Civil Court will be aggressively collected.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also writes articles on business, finance, the credit industry and collection agencies.

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