by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Maryland Attorney General has filed pleadings in Montgomery County as part of its investigation and alleges that Chevy Chase company Access Funding purchased payment streams that totaled $28,723,988 — and had a present-day value of $21,426,399 — in exchange for $6,817,213. “In this manner, Access Funding entities extracted, at a minimum, a total of nearly $15 million from poor and vulnerable Marylanders from June 2013 to August 2015,” the pleading said. At least half — “and perhaps substantially more than half” — of the company’s deals involved Baltimore victims of lead paint poisoning, primarily poor African Americans, according to this report in today's Washington Post.
The made for tabloid question is "Will Sud Get Sued? Sud is Anuj Sud, an Access Funding attorney from College Park, MD who filed petitions on Access Funding deals in Prince George's county. The other attorney is Charles E. Smith, a Derwood, MD attorney who allegedly provided independent provided advice in a large number of the Access Funding deals.
While Smith denied the relationship with Access Funding, the Washington Post reports that it reviewed more than 60 Access Funding structured settlement transfer petitions, chosen at random, and Smith was the independent professional adviser on every one.
Authorities now say Smith acted in this capacity in all of Access Funding’s structured settlement transfer petitions in Maryland between June 2013 and June 2015.
Related Reading
How Maryland Structured Settlement Protection Act Failed Mary Alice Rose June 27, 2015
Maryland IPA Lawsuit Seen By Some As Hurting Annuitants | Say What? June 29, 2015
Access Funding Slammed By Washington Post for Preying on Poor Blacks August 25, 2015