By Structured Settlement Watchdog
As part of comprehensive regulations aimed at protecting consumers, background checks are conducted before an can obtain a securities or insurance in the 50 United States. Unfortunately, similar checks are not for working in the unregulated structured settlement secondary and tertiary markets.
How are consumers protected by the current state of affairs? While you need a license to cut hair, ink a tattoo, or legally run a brothel (in Nevada), there is no enforceable standard of professional conduct. licensure or regulatory body that can fine, penalize factoring market participants for predatory practices, or ban them for a history of illicit activities in previous employment.
"Shawn" Is a Factoring Broker in The USA with Quite a History
I find it astounding the possibility that "Shawn" is now giving advice and soliciting structured settlement annuitants to sell their payments rights (and possibly soliciting potential investors), who in only 2007 was variously described in "the national newspaper" of a Caribbean country as as the "right hand man" or "partner", of "Bob" described in the articles as a fraudster and a "conduit for payment of bribes to the government" of that Caribbean country ostensibly to hide from the FBI the financial condition of a bank that later collapsed [according to published reports, "Bob" was convicted and sentenced on securities charges in Quebec, Canada].
In September 2007, once the island country's offshore regulator began to sing like a canary, it was reported by the national newspaper in another article that "Shawn", the "right hand man"/ "partner" of "Bob", paid $15,000 to the offshore regulator and another $10,000 to him following an election in that country.
On February 10, 1999 that regulator wrote a letter to the FBI in response to an inquiry in which he stated that a now collapsed independent offshore bank (subject of a 2008 episode of American Greed ) was in good standing in compliance with the law. He was subsequently deposed after the bank collapsed and admitted this was not true and he was influenced to write the letter by the bribes he received. It should be noted that on July 17, 2003 Don Bauder, a reporter for the San Diego Reader refers to the collapsed bank as the Carribbean's most corrupt bank ever.
"Shawn" was described in another publication and in a book called "FIB"published by Owen Platt as one of a "dubious cast of characters"
"Shawn" was named in a 2008 British publication as connected with an operation to assist in a money-laundering International Business Company operation in 1998-2000.
I know of another unrelated individual, "Petey" who working in the factoring industry who had "grand theft auto" on his record albeit from over 20 years ago.
Still another "Paul" is/was on probation for dealing drugs (albeit in college).
What other skeletons are lurking in the closets of the population of settlement purchasers that enables them to work with potentially desperate and unsophisticated annuitants AND then solicit investors to boot?
This is just one of the items we have uncovered in research into the structured settlement factoring industry. More to come. The dangers of lax regulation are that structured settlement annuitants and possibly investors in structured settlement payment rights have the potential to get hurt.
Where is the system of checks and balance that elevates the factoring industry into a more respected profession? In doing so, doesn't that help the structured settlement industry as a whole?
Editor's Note: Names of the associated persons have been changed for the purposes of this post.
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