Collection company owner arrested; debtors allegedly threatened
A Buffalo-based collection agency with employees illegally posing as police officers who threatened jail to delinquent bill payers was padlocked today and its owner arrested.
State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced the results of the operation at his downtown office this afternoon, accusing several debt collection agencies run by Tobias Boyland of Buffalo of some of the most serious violations in the industry.
"This case is one of more egregious cases we have found," Cuomo told reporters. "Debt collection companies have to operate legally because consumers also have rights."
Boyland, 43, of 45 Harvard Place, was arrested this morning at his home after investigators for the attorney general and Erie County sheriff's deputies arrived with a search warrant. Once inside, they found Boyland carrying a loaded .38 caliber, Cuomo said, and also located other guns in his residence and various places of business.
That led to his arrest on gun charges, he said, while his office studies the potential for further charges as part of its ongoing investigation.
The attorney general then played audio tapes obtained by his undercover investigators featuring Boyland's employees posing as police officers. In one case they told a woman to find a place for her children, and bring clean clothes "because you're not coming home anytime soon."
"It's illegal to impersonate a police officer," Cuomo said. "They must do it by legal means."
Boyland's tactics have already been portrayed on NBC's "Dateline" program, Cuomo said, and a "Dateline" crew was present at his Main Place Tower offices to film the latest episode on Boyland's career. Cuomo said Boyland is a convicted felon.
His office also has filed a civil suit against Boyland and three of his employees — Kayla Pritchett, Dellian Sharp and Dorian Wills. Sharp and Wills also have criminal records, his office said.
They were part of about 30 employees working for companies operating under nine names in four local offices, according to Mitra Hormozi, special deputy chief of staff to the attorney general. In several recorded conversations played by Cuomo today, Boyland's employees posed as police officers operating out of the "warrant division" with the approval of the district attorney.
No such authorization for their threats ever existed, Hormozi said.
"These are some of the worst tactics we've seen," she added.
Cuomo noted his office has carried on a long investigation of the debt collection industry, which has a heavy concentration in the Buffalo area. He added that the probe resulted from "hundreds" of complaints filed with his office.
He said the callers routinely read from a script that demanded payment for non-existent debt, for expired debts, or substantially inflated amounts on actual debt. Because so many of those contacted believed they were being threatened by actual police officers, he said, many complied.
"There was no DA warrant; there was no judge warrant," Cuomo said. "Some people get so scared, they pay the bill just to get rid of the tactics."
Some of the names under which Boyland's companies operated included Central Resource Management, Final Claims Asset Locators, Final Control Asset Locators, Interchange Payment Solutions, Next Step Services, Portfolio Asset Assurance, Silverbay Services, and Teleport.
Cuomo's office on June 2 reached agreements with three local debt collection companies to "substantially reform their business practices" and pay $245,000 to the state.
The attorney general accused the firms — Creditors Interchange Receivable Management LLC, Capital Management Services LP, and Tri-Financial LLC — of failing to "adequately supervise employees who engaged in deceptive and fraudulent methods."
The firms, which operate nationwide, agreed to change the way they operate to comply with the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and New York's Debt Collection Procedures Act.
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