Officials Raid Collection Agency, Arrest Three

Authorities in Florida this week raided a collection agency and arrested three people officials say bilked consumers out of $50,000 in an illegal debt collection operation.

Volusia County (Fla.) sheriff’s investigators and agents with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Office of Financial Regulations raided the Orange City office of American Debt Specialists after an investigation found the firm collected debts that didn’t exist, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The three people arrested were charged with falsifying a business license application and employing unlicensed salespeople, both third-degree felonies. They are also facing misdemeanor charges of operating an unlicensed debt collection agency.

Officials were alerted to the business by a whistleblower that worked at the firm for two days before quitting. She noted that she was told to call people at random and try to collect nonexistent debts for Internet purchases.

After officials investigated, they determined that American Debt Specialists had indeed contacted consumers about their debt, although the company was registered as a telemarketer. One of the people arrested admitted that the company at one time had billed itself as a debt consolidation center targeting consumers in debt.

Authorities believe that the company may have collected $50,000 from consumers in various states to satisfy debts that did not exist.