Buffalo Debt Relief Scam Charged With Taking Over $100 Million

A Buffalo, N.Y.-based debt relief operation scammed people out of more than $100 million with false promises the entities would negotiate with creditors to lower the consumers’ debt burdens, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and seven states said.

The complaint, unsealed Friday, alleges that Strategic Financial Solutions LLC and its founder and CEO Ryan Sasson and employee Jason Blust created a web of dozens of shell companies around the country that advertised debt relief loans. Most people were denied a loan but were then encouraged to sign up for SFS’s debt relief services.

SFS, which operates under the name StratFS, ...