WASHINGTON—Three defendants in a student loan debt relief scheme have been banned from telemarketing and selling debt relief, and ordered to pay millions in resolution of Federal Trade Commission allegations that they deceived consumers by promising to reduce or eliminate consumers’ student loan debt.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found Brian Colombana, Impetus Enterprise, Inc., and Fig Tree & Co., LLC deceptively marketed student loan debt relief services to consumers and tricked them into paying illegal upfront fees by promising to reduce or eliminate their student loan debt, and then failed to deliver the promised debt relief, the FTC said.
The court entered judgments against the defendants totaling $10,708,206. The court also found Colombana participated in the defendants’ illegal practices and knew or should have known of their misrepresentations to consumers. All three defendants are now permanently banned from selling debt relief products and services and telemarketing, the FTC said.
In 2019, the FTC obtained permanent injunctions and judgments against the other defendants in the case: Brenda Avitia-Pena, Jimmy Calderon and Capital Sun Investments, LLC, and Tuan Duong.