Buffalo, N.Y. – The grimy details of a massive debt collection fraud emerged today as Joseph Ciffa, 49, from Grand Island, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charges levelled against Ciffa carry a heavy penalty: up to 20 years in the clink and a quarter-million-dollar fine.
Ciffa, who has been in the debt collection business since at least 2013, orchestrated an illegitimate operation that preyed on vulnerable debtors. His scheme, which spanned locations from Niagara Falls to Kenmore, NY, and even his own home office, raked in nearly $3 million between January 2015 and December 2016.
The defendant’s modus operandi was simple yet sinister: his collectors made threatening phone calls, often posing as attorneys, using scare tactics like mentioning criminal statutes to intimidate debtors into paying up. He didn’t just stop at collecting debts; he also over-collected on them, processing and transferring payments related to the fraudulent collection.
But Ciffa’s financial shenanigans didn’t end there. He also filed a false tax return for 2015, underreporting his business income and dodging nearly $16,000 in taxes. In 2016, he added fraud involving Medicaid benefits to his rap sheet by lying on an application with the Erie County Department of Social Services.
U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. slammed Ciffa for his predatory actions, noting that his office is dedicated to protecting the vulnerable and ensuring justice for those who seek to cheat the system. ‘This man preyed on the vulnerabilities of others,’ said Kennedy.
Ciffa was charged alongside five others but is the first to be convicted. He is now facing a grim future in federal prison if he fails to comply with the terms of his plea deal. The investigation that led to Ciffa’s downfall was a collaborative effort involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement, HSI Buffalo, IRS Criminal Investigation, and New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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