The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken legal action against Georgia-based debt collector Global Circulation, Inc. (GCI) and its owner, Kenneth Redon III, accusing them of tricking consumers into paying more than $7.6 million in bogus debt.

The FTC alleged that the company used unlawful tactics, including threatening consumers with jail time and harassing their family members, to collect debts that either didn’t exist or weren’t legally collectible, according to an agency press release on Nov. 4.

In response to the FTC’s complaint, a federal court temporarily halted GCI’s operations and ordered the company to turn over its assets to a court-appointed receiver while the lawsuit proceeds.

“Debt collectors should know that harassing families and making empty threats of jail time is illegal,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This action should send a clear message that illegal collection practices will come with heavy consequences.”

According to the complaint, GCI and Redon operated under several fictitious company names, including Total Mediation Solutions, Total Consumer Solutions, and Consumer Impact Recovery.

The company’s collectors allegedly called consumers unexpectedly, threatening them with arrest, wage garnishment, and lawsuits if they didn’t pay supposed debts immediately.

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Consumers reported receiving incessant calls, sometimes multiple times a day, with voicemails urging them to call back about an urgent legal matter.

The complaint also alleges that GCI made similar threats of legal actions against the consumers’ family members. These calls reportedly continued even after the company had allegedly been in contact with the consumer from whom they were seeking to collect the debt.

Furthermore, the FTC alleged that GCI’s representatives regularly failed to identify themselves as debt collectors, a requirement under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The collectors allegedly often had or claimed to have sensitive personal information, which the FTC said they used to convince consumers that the demands for money were legitimate.

The court’s temporary restraining order, issued on Oct. 29, froze the defendants’ assets and placed the company under the control of a court-appointed receiver as the case continues.

The FTC’s vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was unanimous at 5–0, and the complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The commission noted in the press release that they file a complaint when they have “reason to believe” that the defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears that a proceeding is in the public interest.

GCI did not immediately respond to an email from The Epoch Times requesting comment on the allegations.