Legal Briefs
Kris Roglieri Bankruptcy Converted to Chapter 7, The End of NACLB?
May 15, 2024
A judge approved a motion to convert the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding for the embattled Kris Roglieri to a Chapter 7. The intent behind this is to kickstart the process to sell off Roglieri’s assets for the benefit of creditors whereas before Roglieri hoped that his various wholly owned businesses could somehow continue. The trustee, however, said that such an outcome was impossible given that Roglieri did not maintain financial records, has no revenue coming in, is being investigated by the FBI for ~$100 million in allegedly missing customer funds, and has no path forward. The creditors at issue in the matter felt similarly.
Among Roglieri’s wholly owned assets are Commercial Capital Training Group and the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers (NACLB conference), according to documents he previously submitted to the court. He owns 100% of the membership interest in each LLC. During a prior hearing, the Chapter 11 trustee asked Roglieri if he understood that he could not transfer NACLB’s assets without trustee approval after rumors swirled that he was trying to sell it. At the time, Roglieri said that there had been no serious talks in that regard. It may have been a hard sell and could still continue to be. Despite the NACLB conference’s longevity, for example, Roglieri asserted during the proceedings that he did not maintain formal financial records for it and there are no balance sheets, P&Ls, or statement of cash flows related to it. It also apparently stiffed the venue of its last event since it lists an unpaid debt of $436,237 to Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas.
The NACLB conference has also apparently changed its name in order to distance itself from its connection with Roglieri, according to emails reviewed by deBanked. On March 25, an official NACLB mass email communication asserted that the conference would go forward “despite uncertainties surrounding this year’s event due to unrelated legal issues” and that “we are thrilled to announce that the annual conference will proceed this November under a new rebranded name, maintaining the trusted team that has organized the event for the past 9 years.”
Following that, an official NACLB conference representative sent out emails affirming that it was rebranding to the “Commercial Loan Broker Association” and that the conference would actually take place in a new location with a different date.
The Receiver managing Prime Capital Ventures, LLC, the main entity at the heart of the Roglieri saga, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for it on Tuesday. As part of that, he stated that the entity owes more than $100 million to its creditors.
Funding Merchants in New York? What Don’t You Know?
May 15, 2024It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in an office located in Florida, California, New Jersey, or anywhere else, if you work with any merchants in New York State the legal stakes have never been higher. If you saw even half the commentary and feedback that deBanked has reviewed over the last two months about what’s taking place, you’d understand why you really can’t afford to miss this segment at Broker Fair this coming Monday in NYC. You’re not the only one with questions.
Don’t be that person that reaches out after it’s too late to say you wish you had known something ahead of time. Hear it from qualified attorneys that are both on the panel and in attendance at the event on May 20th in NYC. Already have a lawyer that advises you on all this? Great! Send them to this too. You only get one shot to do it right in this business. Register Here
An MCA Debt Settlement Owner Arrested by FBI
May 8, 2024
One of the alleged masterminds behind MCA Cure LLC, LDMS Group, LLC, and Evergreen Settlement Group LLC, was arrested by the FBI six weeks ago after inducing merchants to divert payments away from their MCA providers and then failing to negotiate with the funders.
The accused is Mark Csantaveri, who is named along with two unnamed co-conspirators from New Jersey. Both co-conspirator names were made easily discoverable by details disclosed by the FBI however. The debt settlement websites made claims that they had a “proven proprietary debt restructuring system” that could lower their payments by 80%. As part of the enrollment process, merchants were directed to send funds to an escrow account, for which the co-conspirators would then transfer to their own personal accounts.
According to the complaint, they would then claim to be negotiating with the funders and give updates about waiting to hear from attorneys and settlements. The charges are for Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, and Money Laundering.
Csantaveri was immediately remanded to jail, was represented by a public defender and was only recently released on a $200,000 unsecured bond.
“Csantaveri and his conspirators misappropriated the victims’ money for their personal use, including over $1 million in gambling expenses,” the DOJ said. “Csantaveri’s scheme ultimately defrauded more than 50 victims of more than $3.4 million dollars.”
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss involved in the offense, whichever is greatest.
“MCA Debt Settlement” Company Sued
May 7, 2024A firm that offers to “restructure corporate debt primarily MCA or Merchant Cash Advance debt” was sued last month by a small business owner for fraudulent inducement, consumer fraud, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duties, and for a declaratory judgment. Corporate defendants include MCA Resolve LLC and Coastal Debt Resolve (ABSM LLC) in addition to several individuals.
The alleged scheme, as laid out by plaintiff, asks business owners to pay huge fees to the debt settlement firm all while being forced to default on their business financing agreements on the hope that they might eventually get a proposal to settle for far less than the amount agreed. In this case, plaintiff explained that the result was that they actually ended up owing more because of how much defendants were charging. The case was filed in the Superior Court of Arizona and can be viewed here.
Notably, MCA Resolve LLC is currently being sued by two unrelated MCA funding companies in the New York Supreme Court.
Missing Funds in Prime Capital Ventures Case Now Exceed $90 Million
February 20, 2024
The case of the missing $50 million in the Prime Capital Ventures deposit scheme case is quickly ballooning to a much larger sum. On Tuesday, the Receiver representing Prime in the recovery efforts informed the Court that the total owed to victims is now almost $91 million and that it has yet to locate and secure anywhere near that amount. The growing number is attributed to the fact that more victim companies are beginning to come forward after news of the receivership and personal bankruptcy of Prime’s principal Kris Roglieri have been made public.
Roglieri’s attorney has asked the Court for the automatic stay of actions afforded to him in his personal bankruptcy be also applied to the other businesses he owns that the Receiver of Prime is suing, including the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers entity. Roglieri is reportedly the 100% owner of the NACLB.
The party that sued Prime into receivership in the first place, a company named Compass-Charlotte 1031, LLC, said in its rebuttal to Roglieri’s request that not only is Prime indisputably insolvent but that there is no evidence that Roglieri’s other businesses at issue are not equally insolvent. Compass-Charlotte and the Receiver have both asked the Court not to extend the bankruptcy stay to these other businesses so that Prime can continue to pursue the assets.
NACLB Named in Receivership Pursuit
February 13, 2024
A series of legal disputes between creditors and Prime Capital Ventures, LLC has taken an interesting turn. Originally, creditors forced Prime Capital Ventures, LLC, a commercial real estate financing firm, into involuntary bankruptcy late last year but withdrew it after a review determined that the assets they sought were allegedly no longer in the possession of the defendant. Despite this, related lingering issues kept the entity in receivership and on Jan 24 the Court appointed a permanent receiver. The Receiver, on behalf of Prime, then filed a lawsuit against its owner Kris D. Roglieri and his related entities including Prime Commercial Lending, LLC, Commercial Capital Training Group, The Finance Marketing Group, FUPME, LLC, and the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers LLC and other individuals for the recovery of assets related to Prime.
The Receiver opens the lawsuit by saying that “This case involves what appears to be a multi-state fraud scheme with victims holding claims for well over $50 million for return of deposits, which were paid and then not returned.”
On February 2, FBI agents executed search warrants at the homes of Roglieri and Kimberly Humphrey, according to a letter filed by a lawyer for Prime which was reviewed by deBanked. They are in the process of getting separate criminal defense counsel, according to that letter.
The lawsuit by the Receiver against Roglieri et al can be viewed here.
Trade Group Sues CFPB Over Small Business Loan Data Collection Rules
January 4, 2024
The RBFC has filed a lawsuit against the CFPB over its data collection rules that are scheduled to go into effect this year.
As readers may recall, the federal regulator created 888 pages of rules governing how small business lenders (including MCA companies) will be required to collect and submit data for federal analysis.
At first, it appeared that the CFPB had way overstepped its bounds when Congress, on a bi-partisan basis, passed a resolution to scrap the rules. President Biden, however, then took the unprecedented step of vetoing their resolution on his belief that the rules were necessary to “conduct oversight of abusive and predatory lenders.”
One week after the veto the RBFC filed its lawsuit.
Although the CFPB is required by law to collect small business loan data pursuant to Section 1071 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the plaintiff took umbrage with the CFPB’s allegedly deliberate misinterpretation of the words “credit” and “loan” as they’re written in that statute. That’s because the CFPB unilaterally decided those terms also apply to MCAs/Sales-Based-Financing agreements. The RBFC contests that the CFPB has the legal authority to include products outside the scope of the federal statute and asks the Court to declare the rules invalid as they apply to sales-based financing.
SBFA Appeals Decision in Disclosure Law Lawsuit
January 2, 2024The Small Business Finance Association will appeal the decision issued in its case against the California DFPI over the legality of its disclosure laws.
The SBFA filed its suit in December 2022, alleging that the disclosure laws in California violated the First Amendment and that they were pre-empted by a federal law (TILA) that governs APR calculations. After the Court initially allowed the case to proceed in March 2023, it reversed course and dismissed the SBFA’s lawsuit in December.
On December 29, the SBFA filed its notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
