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In the remote hills of Western New York lies Salamanca.

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A town of just under 6,000 people. Quiet, unassuming.

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But in 2016, federal agents swarmed its outskirts

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to arrest a man whose small town origins belied the

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scale of his deceit.

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This is the story of Donovan Reed,

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a former broker turned fraud kingpin

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and his shadow company, clear Path restructure his victims

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hundreds of small business owners.

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His scheme so convincing, so chaotic, it tore

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through an entire financial sector.

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A year before his arrest,

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a merchant posted an inquiry on just Ask law.com,

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asking about a company called ClearPath.

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Restructure the offer, restructure your short-term loans

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into a manageable 48 month repayment.

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Plan the method, file injunctions in court,

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claiming luxurious interest rates,

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effectively freezing the lenders.

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An attorney named Eric Lauren responded bluntly,

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this is a scam, and he was right.

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The next year. That same company was referenced

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in a criminal complaint.

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Donovan Reed, also known by aliases like Jack Barlow,

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Travis King, and Craig Benson was arrested for mail fraud.

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Investigators from Homeland Security, the IRS

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and the postal inspection service

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to send it on Salamanca with a warrant.

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His alleged scam, sending out thousands of glossy mailers,

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promising debt relief business owners, desperate

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and cash strapped, paid upfront fees.

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In return, Reed's company did nothing even worse.

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His victims were instructed

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to stop paying their original lenders,

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putting them in immediate breach of their contracts.

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Federal agents later wrote, the victims

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and losses are the direct result

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of Reed's scheme involving the mailing of thousands

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of fraudulent solicitations

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to vulnerable small business owners.

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At the time of his arrest, Reed was deemed a flight risk.

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Authorities had found $400,000 in cash stashed away

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and learned he couldn't

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or wouldn't produce a second copy of his passport.

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A foreign national with dual citizenship

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and with a long history of aliases, Reed had the means

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and likely the intent to disappear.

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Then it got weirder.

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Around the same time, a slew

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of bizarre self filed lawsuit started appearing in the

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state's digital court system all claimed

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that commercial funders were illegal.

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Payday lenders all were riddled with typos

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and all were nearly identical.

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Dozens of them. The filing cited Clear path restructure.

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Some even named Donovan Reed directly though under one of

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as many assumed identities.

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ClearPath wasn't a law firm yet.

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It filed lawsuits on behalf of merchants.

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Merchants who often had no idea.

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In court, Reed posed

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as his clients filing documents under their names.

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In one instance, he claimed

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that funders had used lethal means against witnesses,

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alleging threats to lives.

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In the context of a simple finance dispute,

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judges were stunned.

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Some documents were verified by supposed members

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of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

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A typical affidavit read.

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I am a supervising non-attorney paralegal under Seneca BPO

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and assist the plaintiff herein one Judge scoffed.

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This verification is utterly meaningless.

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Still, the lawsuits kept coming.

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Reed's method relied on volume and impersonation.

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A paper trail of more than 40 court filings all

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electronically filed, shared a common thread.

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They came from the same email domain a fire mail zone.com.

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That domain was registered in 2016. It no longer exists.

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At least five filings accidentally included metadata

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or screenshots revealing IP addresses all traced back

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to Salamanca, New York.

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The source was clear. Victims began stepping forward.

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One merchant signed an affidavit swearing the man

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who called himself Travis King,

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had impersonated him in court.

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Another set of woman named Claire Goldstein introduced

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as a legal counselor, charged thousands in fees

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before disappearing entirely later,

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both aliases would be linked to Reed.

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When funders caught on

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and sued ClearPath directly, Reed didn't respond.

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Instead, tribal members from the local reservation filed

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court documents claiming

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that ClearPath was now under their jurisdiction.

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This is an attack on my land and my ancestors' land.

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One filling stated it claimed Reed had sold his business

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to the tribal nation, an effort to claim sovereign immunity

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and avoid prosecution.

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Another document read.

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You must bring your claims to the ous Peacemakers Court.

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But this was theater carefully orchestrated to confuse,

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delay and distract.

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Donovan Reed's entry into the world

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of finance dated back to 2008.

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He started as a broker, ambitious, driven,

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but by 2012, trouble found him.

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A former employer sued him

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for allegedly stealing client lists.

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Imposing. As the firm Reed went on

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to operate several firms, but none lasted.

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One of his companies once offered a $5,000 reward

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for identifying someone

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who posted a complaint on ripoff report.com.

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Reed eventually sued a former employee over it

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for $12 million.

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By late 2015, Reed's Plan was already in motion.

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His enemies weren't just lenders or funders.

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They were former coworkers, employees, clients,

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anyone who had crossed him.

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Reed saw the entire finance industry

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as his enemy in the span of one year.

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Federal agents say he used over 30 different business names.

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At least 10 banks handled his funds.

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He ran everything through mailboxes at the

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local Salamanca post office.

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The final blow came in October, 2016.

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Agents arrested Reed at a rural property near Salamanca.

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Two others were arrested.

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Alongside him, his so-called VP

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and his head of security, both were charged with bank fraud.

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Their job open accounts across Buffalo,

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move the money, keep it flowing.

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Just one week prior,

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a business owner had posted another plea for help.

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I was contacted by Native Debt restructure

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out of West Seneca.

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They said they can reduce my debt from $100,000 to $25,000.

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Two. Good to be true.

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The same attorney Eric Lne responded again,

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this is a scam he wrote.

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He was right in 2019.

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Reed was sentenced five and a half years in federal prison.