Collection Agency Executives Ordered to Pay $10.2 million in Fines

By Greg Saitz, Star-Ledger

The operators of several defunct New Jersey collection agencies have been ordered to pay $10.2 million to the government, which accused the firms of harassing consumers and threatening them with arrest if they didn’t pay their debts.


Barry Sussman, who once penned a manual called “I Scam-You Scam” while in federal prison, and the companies’ attorney, Charles Hutchins, also have been banned from performing debt-collection work, according to the order filed Monday by Chief U.S. District Judge John Bissell in federal court in Newark.

In May 2003, the Federal Trade Commission sued Sussman, Hutchins and Sussman’s companies — Check Investors, operating as National Check Control; Check Enforcement, operating as Goldman Check Systems; and Jaredco, operating as Goldman & Co., all of Secaucus. The complaint charged the firms with violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending letters and making calls to consumers threatening them with arrest, and demanding payments in ways beyond what the law allowed.

For this complete story, please visit Collection-agency operators must pay up.