Court Shutters Allegro Law, Ending One of Nation's 'Largest Debt Settlement Schemes'
An Alabama circuit judge shut down Allegro Law and Allegro Financial Services, ending what the state’s attorney general characterized as “one of the largest debt settlement schemes in the nation.”
The ruling by Judge Ben Fuller follows a complaint file seven months ago by the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission against Keith Anderson Nelms and his two Prattville-based firms, the Birmingham Business Journal reports.
Attorney General Troy King has said the scheme involved millions of dollars and more than 15,000 Allegro customers throughout the country. More than $12 million in assets from the firm will be seized.
Nelms, who the paper reports has been suspended from practicing law and from operating debt management businesses in the state, reportedly promoted a risky debt restructuring plan that instructed clients to stop making monthly payments to debtors to encourage the creditors to write off the debt, reclassify it as less collectible and settle for a reduced payment, the Business Journal reports.
In his summary judgment ruling, Fuller held, among other things, that Allegro Law held itself out as offering legal services, but was not in fact providing legal services to customers.
