Just posting this none of it is mine.
Ban for 'debt services' operator
A man who ran a debt management company which failed to make payments to some customers' creditors has had his consumer credit licence revoked.
The websites run by Matthew St John Crossley, trading as the Debt Advisory Company, have also been shut down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The operation was exposed on the BBC's Watchdog programme.
The OFT is urging anyone who needs help to resolve debt problems to get free advice from charities.
Dealing with debt
Mr Crossley advertised "free, independent and impartial debt advice" to consumers with serious debt problems through websites called
www.thedebtadvisorycompany.co.uk and
www.advisorsondebt.co.uk.
He is understood to have advised customers to remortgage their homes, to release up to £30,000 equity in their homes to send to Mr Crossley to repay creditors on their behalf.
"This is one of the most serious cases involving debt management services we have encountered"
Ray Watson, Office of Fair Trading
But the OFT found that he had failed to give their money back when asked, had failed to make payments to some or all of their creditors, had charged large fees, and gave misleading advice about the services he provided.
One customer was forced to sell his home and another was bankrupted following dealings with Mr Crossley, the OFT said.
The OFT, which believes he is now living abroad, has revoked his consumer credit licence which means he will be breaking the law if he offers debt management services to UK customers.
"This is one of the most serious cases involving debt management services we have encountered," said Ray Watson, OFT director for consumer credit.
"We have evidence that consumers parted with tens of thousands of pounds and suffered increased financial hardship as a result of Mr St John Crossley's activities."
The OFT said Mr Crossley was understood to have previously used the names Matthew Crossley and Matthew Prevett.
He featured in an item on the Watchdog programme in March 2007.
An OFT spokesman said the programme alerted the authority to the existence of serious complaints about him, which prompted information to be gathered from various witnesses assisted by trading standards departments across the UK.
Licensing action, including the opportunity for Mr Crossley to give his views, began in early 2008.
