Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is suing a Williamsville attorney for fraudulently

allowing a debt collection firm to use his name to intimidate consumers by falsely threatening

legal action when the attorney did no actual work for the collection agency.

Cuomo's office filed suit against John P. Nicolia on Thursday, accusing him of "fraudulent,

deceptive and illegal business practices" for selling the use of his name and his law firm's

name to Eastern Asset Management LLC. He was paid $141,000 in fees but never provided any

actual legal services for Eastern.

According to the lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Erie County, Eastern's collectors

repeatedly used Nicolia's name — with his knowledge — in their attempts to collect debts from

consumers nationwide by illegally threatening them, claiming they were calling from or working

with "the Law Office of John Nicolia."

They also sent standardized "settlement" letters to consumers that cited legal judgments

against them that didn't actually exist, while claiming that "our legal counsel, John Nicolia,

Esq., may review the status of your particular case at anytime."

In fact, Cuomo said an investigation by his staff found that, while Nicolia was paid

$69,000 by the firm in 2008 and $72,000 in 2009, the lawyer has no records indicating he did

any work for Eastern, which is owned by Frank Santiago, a Hamburg debt buyer. Santiago, who also is being investigated by Cuomo, retained Nicolia on Dec. 30, 2006.

"This attorney knowingly allowed a debt collection firm to use his name to threaten,

intimidate, and harass consumers, while he sat back and profited without having to do any

actual work," Cuomo said in a statement.

In the lawsuit, Cuomo is seeking a court order barring Nicolia from allowing debt

collectors to use his name, and asking for "significant civil penalties" against the attorney.

State law allows Cuomo to seek up to $5,000 in penalties for each violation of general

business law.

Reached by phone, Nicolia said he was at his client's business two to three times a week

for three years, and can "absolutely" show that he performed legal work for the collection

agencies. He said his primary responsibility was taking calls from debtors to affirm that the

purchase of the debt by the collection agency was legal.

And he denied that he knowingly allowed his name to be used as Cuomo claims, saying he

"took appropriate measures" to correct the problem when he was notified by Cuomo last August.

"The evidence will clearly show that I never, ever authorized or condoned the use of my

name in the manners alleged," he said. "The fact of the matter is that I probably performed

more legal work for my client than the retainer called for."