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FTC Nails Giant Credit Repair Scam
One of the country's largest credit-repair operations, which sold services to more
than 183,000 consumers, taking in more than $53 million, has agreed to pay more than $1.15 million in consumer redress to
settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. The credit repair firm told consumers that they had
a one-of-a-kind computer disk that was able to identify inaccuracies in the entry process employed by the credit reporting
agencies. According to the FTC, the defendants told consumers that the computer disk was so unique and amazing that it had
been valued at more than $200 million in an independent appraisal, and once had been insured by Lloyd's of London for $15
million. The FTC complaint alleges that the defendants' representations about the computer disk are false and deceptive. The
defendants, all based in in the Detroit, Michigan area include ICR Services, Inc.; a Livonia, Michigan-based company; and
its three officers and directors, Bernadino J. Pavone, Jr., his mother Gloria Tactac, and Abood Samaan. The remaining defendants
are National Credit Education and Review (NCER), based in Canton, Michigan, and its president Todd Renzi. The defendants currently
sell their credit-repair service through NCER under the name "National Credit Repair."
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