Boris Shulman, Multimillion-Dollar Debt Settlement Scheme, New York 2013

Boris Shulman, a 27-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, has pleaded guilty to his role in a multimillion-dollar debt settlement scheme that targeted over 1,200 debt-ridden consumers across the country.

According to the allegations, Shulman worked as a sales representative for Mission Settlement Agency, a company that promised to help settle debts for a fee. However, the company and its employees, including Shulman, systematically exploited and defrauded their clients, lying to them about their ability to settle debts and charging exorbitant fees.

Between 2009 and 2013, Mission received over $6.6 million in fees, with nearly $2.2 million coming from 1,200 customers who were never helped. Shulman, who served as a sales representative for Mission from 2009 to 2012, solicited and lied to prospective customers about the agency’s fees in order to induce them to become Mission customers.

Shulman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison and has agreed to forfeit $2,196,522 to the United States.

Shulman is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Paul G. Gardephe on May 30, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. This guilty plea is the fourth in the case, with three other defendants having already pleaded guilty.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara praised the investigative work of the United State Postal Inspection Service and thanked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for referring the case to his office.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit, with Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole W. Friedlander and Edward A. Imperatore in charge of the prosecution.

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