Portland judge fines co. $5.9 million for scamming veterans, retirees

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Katherine von Ter Stegge has fined Future Income Payments LLC $5.9 million for executing a scheme on about 240 Oregon veterans and retirees.

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Division of Financial Regulation and the Department of Justice sued Future Income, owned by Scott Kohn, for the scheme which provided illegal loans to low-income Oregonians with interest up to 200 percent.

The scheme required borrowers to authorize Future Income to make electronic withdrawals from their pension or retirement accounts to repay the loans. This provided Future Income the ability to remove money from victims’ accounts despite violating multiple Oregon and federal laws.

In addition to the judgment, the court declared all the loans void, saving victims more than $5 million in principal, interest, and fees.

Since the judgement, a number of other states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have taken similar action against Kohn and Future Income. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina indicted Kohn and Future Income last month for conspiracy to engage in mail and wire fraud.

“The collaboration with Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and the Department of Justice was key in this case,” said Andrew Stolfi, division administrator. “Preying on the hard-earned pensions of our veterans and retirees is disgraceful, and all our teams work hard to protect Oregonians from being victims of illegal schemes like this.”

Oregonians are encouraged to know before you owe by making sure loan companies like Future Income are legally registered with the state before signing any agreement. For more resources to protect your finances visit dfr.oregon.gov/financial or contact our advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll free).

About DCBS: The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, visit www.dcbs.oregon.gov.

About Oregon DFR: The Division of Financial Regulation is part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. Visit www.dcbs.oregon.gov and http://dfr.oregon.gov/Pages/index.aspx.