Articles by deBanked Staff
DailyFunder Still #1 Small Business Finance Community
October 14, 2020
DailyFunder, the small business finance forum founded by Sean Murray in 2012, continues to be the leading online community for the industry, according to a recent announcement. The forum recently surpassed 10,000 registered members, in addition to logging more than 2 million page views just in 2020 so far.
“The forum has attracted well over a million visitors since inception and users have historically spent longer than 10 minutes on the site in any given session on average,” Murray said.
deBanked’s parent company fully acquired DailyFunder earlier this year. The announcement was featured prominently in deBanked’s January/February 2020 magazine issue. In it, Murray renewed the website’s objective:
“The mission will be to create a great forum for those involved in day-to-day dealmaking,” he said in a Q&A. “How can we provide a platform that enables those in the industry to make more money? That’s the way I look at it. I think if we can provide that type of value, success will follow.”
OnDeck / Enova Merger Overwhelmingly Approved by Shareholders
October 8, 2020The drama surrounding what OnDeck allegedly did or did not disclose to shareholders about the Enova merger presumably came to an end on Wednesday. 38 million voting shares approved the deal while less than half a million voted against it.
However, shareholders sent a message by voting against “the compensation that may be paid or become payable to the Company’s named executive officers that is based on or otherwise relates to the merger.”
OnDeck has said that the merger is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Jackie Reses is Leaving Square Capital
October 2, 2020
Square Capital’s lead executive, Jacqueline Reses, is leaving the company. Square announced on October 2, that her resignation would be effective as of October 31. Reses is largely responsible for developing Square’s robust lending business, one that effectively made the company one of the largest non-bank small business lenders in the country.
It’s time to hang up my boots and say goodbye to my good friends at @Square. To the people I’ve worked with: everything I love about Square is related to you. It is my privilege and honor to have been along for the ride with you.
— Jackie Reses (@jackiereses) October 2, 2020
I shared my thoughts with Squares today because the place is so special! I thought I would share. pic.twitter.com/tXAE0dZhK9
— Jackie Reses (@jackiereses) October 2, 2020
Square Makes Jeopardy’s Daily Double
September 17, 2020“What is Square?”
That was the right question to the answer read by Jeopardy host Alex Trebek during an episode that aired this week. Contestant “Beth” hit a Daily Double and waged $2,000 to try and take the lead over “David” and “Joe.”
@Jack, hello pic.twitter.com/zwIzdAyTVT
— Nick D 👨👧 (@ndimichino) September 17, 2020
Square employees reacted on twitter by pointing out that the quoted transaction cost was a little out of date, but mostly took the honorable mention in stride.
We've made it! https://t.co/MZoZofrsno
— Jackie Reses (@jackiereses) September 18, 2020
Additional Lawsuits Filed Against OnDeck Directors Over Enova Deal
September 14, 2020At least three federal lawsuits have been filed against the directors of OnDeck relating to the announcement that the company is being acquired by Enova. These suits allege securities act violations with regards to how the technical aspects of the deal were disclosed while the initially reported action in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleged a breach of fiduciary duty.
The federal securities lawsuits are:
Daniel Senteno v. On Deck Capital, Inc. et al – Case 1:20-cv-01179-MN
Eric Sabatini (on behalf of a class) v On Deck Capital, Inc et al – Case 1:20-cv-01166-MN
Mohamed Aboubih v On Deck Capital, Inc. et al – Case 1:20-cv-07319-Vm
Business Loan Broker “The Tyrant” Sentenced to at Least Five Years in Prison
September 10, 2020The owner of a Long Island business loan brokerage convicted of orchestrating an advance fee loan scheme, was sentenced to prison this week. The judge handed Demetrios Boudourakis five to ten years and ordered him to pay a total of $880,000 in restitution to victims.
Boudourakis solicited business owners for a loan and then charged them an upfront fee when no loan was actually forthcoming. He pled guilty in June to the charge of grand larceny in the 2nd degree.
The New Largest Merchant Cash Advance in History: $90 million +
September 9, 2020The largest merchant cash advance in history (at $40 million), first publicly disclosed in 2018, has been outdone. On Tuesday, the Receiver in the Par Funding SEC case revealed that its largest customer had outstanding purchased receivables of $91.3 million. The customer is an office and cleaning supply company based on Long Island. The amount is now the largest known merchant cash advance deal in history.
Par’s second largest customer had outstanding purchased receivables of $35 million.
Par’s total receivables are estimated to be $420 million. $228.8 million of it stems from just 10 customers including the two referenced above, according to a recently filed report.
Sketchy Virginia SBA Loan Brokers Indicted
August 26, 2020Ronald A. Smith and Terri Beth Miller, owners of Virginia-based Business Development Group (BDG), an SBA loan brokerage, were indicted this month over an advance-fee scheme in which many customers are alleged to have paid money to obtain SBA loans but did not in fact get them.
As part of the scheme, defendants are alleged to have made many false and misleading representations to prospective borrowers including that:
- BDG was a large, multi-state company
- BDG was headquartered at the Trump Building in New York City and had an additional business in Las Vegas
- BDG has assisted certain named companies in obtaining SBA loans
- BDG was a business established in 2005 or earlier
- BDG was affiliated with the SBA
- BDG had relationships with banks across the nation that allowed it to facilitate the loan approval process with SBA lenders in a customer’s area by utilizing a “Lender Linker” made up of the most preferred SBA lenders in the country
- BDG had a program that included a “Powerful Online Grant Writer Interface Service” that was directly connected to the federal government and “handled everything from A to Z in Finding, Writing, Submitting and Securing Grants”
- BDG offered a money back guarantee
- BDG won the 2016 Best of Manhattan Business Award for Business Development Software and Services
BDG was really just an internet-based business whose goal was to obtain money through fraudulent pretenses and promises, prosecutors contend.
A copy of the grand jury indictment can be obtained here.
