The (NEXSTAR) According to government officials, more than $9 million in reimbursements are being made to the thousands of people who lost money as a result of a student loan debt relief scheme.
The proprietor of Ameritech Financial, Financial Education Benefits Center, and American Financial Benefits Center, Brandon Frere, was charged in December 2018 after being apprehended at San Francisco International Airport while attempting to exit the country. In July 2020, he was found guilty and given a 42-month prison term.
The resident of Northern California acknowledged in court that he and his businesses, which misled individuals into believing they were affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, made at least $25,000,000 from the debt relief plan.
According to the FTC, employees of the organizations defrauded customers out of illegal up-front costs as high as $800 and signed them up for $49 to $99 monthly fees that were intended to go toward paying off student debt but were actually going to Frere's companies.
How will payments be made?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) began paying 22,562 persons on Tuesday.
The majority will receive a check in the mail, which should be redeemed within 90 days, according to the FTC.
Customers who were eligible but did not have an address on file will be compensated via PayPal.
The FTC states on its website that in these situations, "we send an email from the FTC (subscribe@subscribe.ftc.gov) to payment recipients prior to payment." "After payments are made, PayPal notifies recipients via email of their refund."
A PayPal payment must be accepted within 30 days by the recipient.
In most FTC refund instances, consumers don't need to submit a claim in order to receive their money.
According to the FTC, "FTC court orders usually require the defendants to provide a list of customers, along with their contact information and how much they paid." "We employ this data to send refunds. If we lack the data required to send reimbursements, we could ask customers to submit claims. If that's the case, instructions on how to submit a claim will be posted at www.ftc.gov/refunds.
Call Rust Consulting, Inc., the administrator, at (833) 579-3126 if you think you could be qualified or if you have any other inquiries concerning the return procedure. For solutions to frequently asked issues about refunds, see the FTC website.
The FTC also warns recipients to watch out for fraudsters and to keep in mind that they will never be required to pay anything or divulge their account information in order to receive a refund from the Commission.
