A state court in Buffalo has issued orders barring the three principals of a Western New York debt collection operation — one of whom was arrested on gun possession charges — from ever working in the industry again.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo obtained the orders against Tobias Boyland, Kayla Pritchett and Dorian Wills from State Supreme Court in Buffalo. The three also will pay $275,000 in restitution to victims of what the state called “the company’s scare tactics” in trying to collect on debts.

Boyland, Pritchett and Wills, as well as a fourth individual who is jailed on an unrelated charge in Kentucky, were principals in at least nine debt collection firms based in Western New York and operating from at least four locations. The firms operated as 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 alleged that the companies and their employees used illegal tactics, including impersonating law enforcement and threatening jail, to intimidate consumers into immediately paying debts that, in many cases, they didn’t even owe. That violated state and federal laws, especially the U. S. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

They also allegedly falsely told consumers they were being sued in civil court, according to hundreds of consumer complaints filed across the country.

Cuomo said his investigation found the collectors seeking payment for debts that didn’t exist, inflating what was actually owed or trying to collect on debts after the statute of limitations on them had already expired. The firms also allegedly used technology to hide their addresses and telephone numbers to make it harder for consumers to know which state or law enforcement agency to complain to.

Cuomo shut the operation down last June, and 12 employees were arrested in September and charged with grand larceny as part of the criminal investigation. Nine have pleaded guilty, while three cases are pending.

Boyland, a convicted felon, was arrested and charged with gun possession when state investigators and Erie County sheriff’s deputies first arrived at his home with a search warrant and found him with a loaded weapon. That charge is still pending, and there is an ongoing investigation into Boyland, although the civil case against the firms is now closed, Cuomo spokesman Lee Park said.

“These individuals used a business model of intimidation, illegal impersonation and predatory tactics to go after people’s money under the guise of debt collection,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Cuomo has been investigating unlawful debt collection practices for more than a year, cracking down on an industry that employs more than 5,200 Western New Yorkers at more than 120 firms in Erie and Niagara counties, according to the state Labor Department.

State officials say many of these firms are legitimate and operate legally, but Buffalo has also become known nationally as a home to some of the industry’s worst practices. Cuomo has sued some firms over abusive practices, while forcing changes at others, but Boyland’s firms are the first where individuals have been charged and arrested.

The federal and state debt collection and consumer protection laws prohibit collectors from posing as an attorney, threatening lawsuits or other legal action that can’t be taken, saying a consumer committed a crime or will be arrested, or talking with third parties about a person’s debt except to find out where they can be located.

The law also requires collectors to send written notice to consumers within five days of first contacting them, to explain how they can dispute the debt. If properly disputed, the collection agency must stop collection attempts.

Consumers who feel they have been victimized by these companies and haven’t yet filed a complaint with Cuomo’s office must do so by April 9 to be eligible for restitution. To contact the office, call (800) 771-7755 or go online to

www.ag.ny.gov

.