After TV report, NY authorities shut down debt collection company run by convicted felons

After TV report, NY authorities shut down debt collection company run by convicted felons

NEW YORK — State authorities have shut down a collection agency they said terrified people across the country into paying debts by telling them if they didn’t send money immediately, they would be thrown in jail.

Investigators said collectors working for the Buffalo company routinely posed as law enforcement officials in an attempt to trick people into thinking they were about to be arrested.



During one call recorded by a debtor, a man who vaguely identified himself as an investigator from “the warrant division” said one victim was about to be “picked up.”

“Make sure you have somewhere for your kids to go. Lock up your house. Get some clean clothes, because you’re not coming home anytime soon,” the caller said.

In reality, authorities said, the business was run not by lawmen, but convicted felons. Its owner was former drug dealer who goes by the nickname “Bags of Money” and served 13 years for attempted robbery.

“This company was run by people who lied, bullied and preyed on vulnerable Americans struggling to resolve their financial situation,” said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose office has been probing more than 30 collection companies and debt settlement firms.

The collection agency, which did business under several names, including Final Claims Asset Locators, was ordered closed at least temporarily Monday by a judge.

The company was the subject of a Dateline NBC expose in March.

Its owner, Tobias Boyland, was arrested Tuesday on a weapons charge after investigators searching his home and offices discovered that he was carrying a loaded, unlicensed pistol. The search also turned up other weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, and $34,000 in cash, authorities said.

Boyland’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a phone call. No one answered the phone or responded to e-mails at his various business entities. Boyland himself was still in custody and unavailable for comment after his arraignment late Tuesday afternoon.

The muscular 43-year-old boasts of his criminal history on his Web site, in which he also hawks his various business ventures, which include a modeling agency, a rap album and a self-help book called “Thug Motivation.”

Boyland has also put up promotional billboards in Buffalo featuring himself in a gladiator outfit draped with beautiful women.

According to state prison system records, Boyland was released from jail in late 2006 having served almost all of a 15-year sentence. Two of his partners in the business also have criminal records. One, Dorian Wills, served time with him for robbery. The other, Dellian Sharp, is awaiting sentencing in a federal bank fraud case.

Boyland scoffed at the criticism of his business on his MySpace page after the Dateline NBC segment was broadcast.

“Have you had the chance to check my cameo on DATELINE NBC? If you haven’t you must check me out,” he wrote. “I’m laughing all the way to the BANK.”