Stephen Gordon Debt Relief Management Scammer Kendall Florida

Federal law enforcement has arrested a father and his son for allegedly running a nationwide debt relief scam that convinced consumers to send them money in exchange for unique credit card debt settlement services the pair said they could offer because they had special influence in government and had access to special government debt relief programs.

Jeffrey O’Neil, a resident of Houston, Texas, and his son Nathaniel (a.k.a. Nathaniel Chilo), allegedly defrauded consumers of $617,000 over a five-year period ending last September, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO).

The father-son team operated companies called J. O’Neil/Associates Inc., World Outlook, World Outlook Management, and Universal Restoration. None of the companies were licensed to provide debt relief or debt settlement services.

According to USAO, the O’Neils allegedly told consumers “that debt relief would be obtained through the Federal Trade Commission, the Senate Banking Committee, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, through injunctive action, and through a program called the ‘Debt Reconciliation Program’ or ‘Debt Relief Program,’ referred to as ‘DRP.’ ”

The elder O’Neil said in emails to clients that he was very well-connected and heavily influential in Washington. Emails allegedly included “an altered speech by Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which falsely include[d] statements about a debt reconciliation proposal sponsored by World Outlook Management as well as a fraudulent calendar for the Judiciary Committee of U.S. House of Representatives” (“Jeffrey O’Neil Ran Father-Son Debt-Relief Scam, Feds Say,” Houston Press, Aug. 25, 2011.)

O’Neil also allegedly told consumers he worked with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, and actual federal commission, before creating a bogus company with the same initials, the Fair Credit Investigation Company. As payment for promised credit card debt settlement services, O’Neil had clients make out check payable to the FCIC and mail them to an address in Houston. However, O’Neil and his son allegedly spent the money on themselves.

The pair were charged with six counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

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