by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Sovereign Funding Group CEO David Springer's testimony from his June 28, 2013 deposition contains his admission that he fabricated identities of alleged employees of Sovereign Funding Group, such as James Goldstein, Sandy Jackson, James Spelling and Alexander Ross and used one or more of those names to create LinkedIn profiles, Google Plus profiles for people that don't exist, as well as submitting and authorizing the publishing of false information about Sovereign Funding Group,including contacts that don't exist, to the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland ,knowing that the BBB report would be directed at American consumers. [The name James Goldstein was also used in Manta profiles, Zoominfo (which makes the grossly false claim that Sovereign Funding Group has 50-100 employees), Pinterest, and other social media] This is VERY serious stuff with serious implications.
Download David Springer Sovereign Funding Deposition Excerpt. Admits Fake Linkedin In , Google Plus James Goldstein Sandy Jackson James Spellling June 28, 2013 Baltimore MD
David Springer and LinkedIn
It is a fact that James Goldstein, a person that does not exist was endorsed by Sandy Jackson, a "co-worker" who also does not exist. Both of these characters were created, on his own admission under oath, by David Springer . Download Sovereign Funding Group David Springer's fictional character Sandy Jackson endorses fictional character James Goldstein on LinkedIn 8-11-2013
Even more misleading is that David Springer's Linkedin Profile also contains an endorsement from Sandy Jackson, a person that does not exist, that he created himself. David Springer endorsed himself,through this non existent character Sandy Jackson he created, for Investments, Cash Flow, Wealth Management and Asset Management. Download Sovereign Funding Group David Springer's LinkedIn includes endorsement from Sandy Jackson a non existent character he created 8-11-2013
David Springer promoted himself on LInkedin as a Transition Consultant for Sovereign Funding Group, when he admitted that he was the only employee.
If Springer really wanted to get his name "out of the equation" (Springer deposition bottom page 127 and top page 128) why would Springer create a person to endorse himself to promote his own personal business profile to the LinkedIn community?
Has David Springer, by his own admissions under oath, violated user agreements at Linkedin? Let's have a look see...
Linkedin's stated mission " to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that help you be great at what you do.
A. Section 7B Linkedin Can Terminate for Misuse of Services
LinkedIn may restrict, suspend or terminate the account of any Member who abuses or misuses the Services. Misuse of the Services includes inviting other Members with whom you do not know to connect; abusing the LinkedIn messaging services; creating multiple or false profiles; using the Services commercially without LinkedIn’s authorization, infringing any intellectual property rights, violating any of the Do’s and Don’ts listed in Section 10, or any other behavior that LinkedIn, in its sole discretion, deems contrary to its purpose. In addition, and without limiting the foregoing, LinkedIn has adopted a policy of terminating accounts of Members who, in LinkedIn’s sole discretion, are deemed to be repeat infringers under the United States Copyright Act. {emphasis added)
B. Linkedin Section 10,
Dos
#2 provide accurate information and update it as necessary
#6 use your real name on your profile
Don'ts
#1 Act dishonestly or unprofessionally by engaging in unprofessional behavior by posting inappropriate, inaccurate, or objectionable content to LinkedIn;
#3 Create a Member profile for anyone other than a natural person (emphasis added). [from his testimony, David Springer has admitted to creating at least 3 Linkedin profiles for "anyone other than a natural person".
It is worth noting that Linkedin collects a fee for each Linkedin profile, so it would have been paid for by credit card or Paypal and there would be a record of the transaction.
David Springer and Google+
How about Google+. Have David Springer and/or Sovereign Funding Group violated the User Content and Content Policy of Google Plus?
Google + User Content and Conduct Policy
#12. "Do not use our products to impersonate"
Apparently David Springer indicriminately impersonated men and women
- On January 18,2013 Soveriegn Funding CEO James Goldstein (fake)
- On January 23, 2013 Sovereign Funding "employee", "Melanie Miller" (nickname "Minky" ) claims to have "started her new job today in Rockville Maryland. It is a great day". In her circles, Sandy Jackson (a fabrication of David Springer, David Springer himself and Matthew Stocker, who, in turn, includes Sandy Jackson (fake) and James Goldstein (fake)
- On January 23, 2013 Sovereign Funding "employee" "James Spelling " (fake) is not as optimistic as "Minky" stating "It's brutal out there"
- On January 23, 2013 "employee" "Karen Jones" (fake) reviews Sovereign Funding with an address on Fair Oaks in Columbia, MD of a house that David Springer and his wife resided in from July 2001-November 2009, according to our sources. She also states:
"Started working here on January 2nd, 2013 to help backup a sales person who is going back to college. It is a great company so far"
"I started working at Sovereign Funding Group on January 2, 2013 in the sales department. It has only been 2 weeks but I am very excited about this job and my future here. The company is really interested in offering the best structured settlement quotes and highest level of service. All the staff and managers are super friendly, nice and helpful as well". [ emphasis added. Notable because David Springer testified that he was the sole employee of SFG]
For more on "Karen Jones", read my May 31,2013 post "Sovereign Funding Group's "Gator" is a"Crock", where I share my research into the fake academic credentials of the fake Sovereign Funding Group "employee".
- On May 10, 2013 "Sandy Jackson"(fake) posted on her Google + account "We had an especially good week at Sovereign Funding Group..."
Better Bureau of Greater Maryland What is amazing is that the BBB recently restored Sovereign Fundng Group's A+ rating and continues to state no advertising review is necessary.
One wonders if they had the actual deposition transcript what they will think? What is the value of an A+ rating to consumer, if the BBB does nothing? The BBB is the only "seal of approval" that under-regulated structured settlement factoring companies have. The lack of licensure requirement fosters misleading and deceptive business practices such as those exhibited by David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group as well as others.
Samples of additional holes in David Springer's June 28, 2013 testimony
Sovereign Funding Group's Facebook entry for December 7, 2011 was tagged Rockville Maryland. David Springer did not acquire the UPS store mail box (which was subsequently promoted until June 2013 as Sovereign Funding's address until June 15, 2012), according to our sources.
James Goldstein has a Blogger.com profile that states he has been on Blogger since June 2011 and garnered 147 views. Download James Goldstein Blogger June 2011. The JG Wentworth and Woodbridge law suits did not commence until October 2011 and November 2011 respectively. Again Springer admitted under oath to fabricating James Goldstein.
David Springer has a Blogger profile that states it has been on since July 2011 and garnered 392 views. Download David Springer Blogger Profile since July 2011As you can see David Springer's Blogger profile was created one month AFTER that for James Goldstein and 3 monthe before David Springer and Sovereign were sued by JG Wentworth and 4 months prior to being sued by Woodbridge. It is relevant in view of his testimony to include these words attributed to David Springer on his Blogger profile
| "As any good man, I am family first, enjoying my children, teaching them success in everything from how to build and plenty about business". Knowing what we know, this begs the obvious question. |
Note the Blogger link to Old Bitty Grandma, whose character was seen in an October 6, 2011 online commercial promoting David Springer as a lawyer when he's not [see Sovereign Funding Group ad Promoted David Springer as a Lawyer June 18, 2013]
James Goldstein (fake) is registered on SEOMoz (moz.com) since 11/8/2012, with links pointing towards the Sovereign Funding Twitter and Facebook pages. His profile states that his favorite topic is online marketing tools.(emphasis added)
James Goldstein's Manta profile states he has been a member since October 25, 2010. The lawsuits commenced by JG Wentworth and Woodbridge against David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group did not begin until October 2011 and November 2011, respectively.
Contrary to his testimony, David Springer and I Had Not Spoken in 3 YearsI
I reached out to David Springer for the first time in almost 3 years in July 2011 after discovering his possible connection to a redirect scheme that effectively brandjacked a significant number of players in the structured settlement industry on both the primary and secondary side of the market.
Contrary to what David Springer testified to, on or about May 8, 2012 Sovereign Funding Group CEO David Springer sent an email to Nicholas John Jackson and Kathryn Sias, former contractors to Sovereign Funding Group and, in the case of Nick Jackson, to Genex Strategies (Roger Proctor's outfit), in which David Springer described "I have not spoken to him (me) since way-back in 2011, when he called me out of the blue to pry into SFG business".
Was "to pry into SFG business" an admission to the so-called webuypayments.net redirect scheme? The redirects were the sole topic of the July 2011 conversation. Here is a copy of the July 19, 2011 email that David Springer sent me acknowledging the call and the topic of conversation. Download David Springer email 7-19-2011 "Thanks for heads up on those links" [emphasis added)
Shortly before his email to Nick Jackson and Kathryn Sias, he sent me a text message saying that he agreed with my criticism of what was serving as advertising for Sovereign Funding, produced by his former SEO contractor.
In the aforementioned May 8, 2012 email to Nicholas Jackson and Kathryn Sias, Springer stated that "I am currently trying to sell SFG. I am COMPLETELY BURNT OUT because of SFG (the lawsuit...) and I want to move on and do something else. The new buyers have your names as the SFG SEO and marketing contacts so there is a possibility that they will contact you sometime in the future".
As my readers know I was the victim of a brutal online assault that began just as the JG Wentworth lawsuit against David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group was settled March 2, 2012, with Springer and Sovereign still mired in litigation with Woodbridge, and shortly after we revealed the Freedom1stfunding.com redirect scheme, a mirror image of the so-called webuypayments.com scheme (partly subject of the two lawsuits), save for the more intense anonymity and offshore registration. As JG Wentworth had done when it was being assaulted, I filed a John Doe lawsuit [see John Darer, plaintiff v John Does 1-25, Defendants United States District Court Dictrict of Connecticut CIV 3:12-cv-00383-JCH Document 14]. As stated in that document, which can be found at PACER.gov: "The Plaintiff believed he had identified at least two (2) of the John Doe defendants (David and Melissa Springer), and had contacted those individuals regarding this litigation, including regarding whether the matter could be resolved without naming and serving those individuals. After that initial contact, communications ensued between Mr. Springer and counsel for Plaintiff, in which Mr. Springer – on behalf of himself and his wife, Melissa Springer – denied any involvement in the acts alleged in the Complaint. He also claimed to have certain explanations and/or information regarding alleged facts".
David Springer purchased a UPS mailbox at 451 Hungerford Turnpike in Rockville MD on or about June 15, 2012, just a few days after receiving a letter from my attorneys contacting him about the John Doe litigation. As David Springer would be aware there was draft legal complaint attached to the letter. Shortly after that and also coinciding with David Springer and Sovereign Funding losing their summary judgment motion in favor of Woodbridge Structured Funding, the name James Goldstein was heavily promoted as the President and/or CEO, and the address for the Rockville, MD UPS box was advertised as the address for Sovereign Funding Group.
Mr. Springer admits in the his deposition that he fabricated the name James Goldstein as well as others. His theory is that he did it to evade the structured settlement watchdog and attempts to portray himself and his family as victims. This is specious claim because the timeline does not lie.
For example,in his depositiion , David Springer, in so many words, admitted to papering over his own 2009 press release replacing his name with James Goldstein ( on the document itself was mispelled as James Golstein) , but the papering over took place in October 2012. Read my April 15, 2013 report Why is Sovereign Funding "Papering Over" David Springer?
Another example is the feeble attempt to explain away the fictitious names with respect to his father in law. "James Goldstein" can be traced back to as early as 2010/2011 (see Manta above) and the BBB chnage occirred in or about late June 2012. My post The Axis Between David Springer and Genex Capital ran Through Clarksville, MD did not appear until April 15, 2013 I simply posted a Genex Capital Better Business Bureau report which showed that Springer's father in law's address appeared on the BBB report for Genex Capital. I also complimented his father in law on a fine sense of humor for his registration of the domain Kissmir N Tuchas dot com, which means " Kiss My Ass" in Yiddish. Springer mischaracterizes this as harassment.
David Springer claimed in his deposition that James Spelling was one of the names he made up to evade the structured settlement watchdog John Darer, when upon information and belief, Springer was involved in Structured Settlement-Quotes.com for a period of time and at times used the name James Spelling in conjunction therewith. At the time of this posting the SSQ website contains a "customer testimonial that cites the work of "James Spellng" and Andrew Cravenho. One individual calling for Andrew Cravenho at SSQ during the pre-2011, pre-lawsuit time frame, related when I spoke to him this past week that he encountered "James Spelling" and recognized his voice to be that of David Springer and said "Hi David". Apparently Springer got rattled and hung up. This long preceded the JG Wentworth lawsuit and the Woodbridge lawsuit, "di-spelling", if you will, this aspect of David Springer's deposition testimony.
As an aside the structuredsettlement-quotes (dot)com website which upon information and belief is owned and/or controlled by Roger Proctor and /or his business entities out of Vancouver, BC, lists James Goldstein as the CEO of Sovereign Funding but an address that David Springer had not lived at since 2001 despite our information and belief that David Springer and Roger Proctor have been in contact with each other. Why would Genex Capital's Roger Proctor and Boris Drubetsky permit a property that is associated with them to contain David Springer's admitted fabricated name? The SSQ website was re-launched in July 2012, AFTER James Goldstein was substituted as the Sovereign Funding CEO by David Springer on its BBB report that included the Rockville, MD, UPS store mailbox location.
The trial in Woodbridge Structured Funding v Sovereign Funding Group and David Springer is set for November 2013.
David Springer's admissions are a chilling reminder that
- Consumers must be vigilant when seeking to sell their structured settlements and check credentials, not just the Better Business Bureau report.
- State Attorney Generals need to be more vigilant of what is going on in the structured settlement secondary market. How is it that individuals and companies can get away with using fake names and fake academic credentials when soliciting consumers and/or investors in your state?
No matter what specious claim David Springer, individually, and on behalf of Sovereign Funding Group, may make for his/their reasons for misleading advertising and marketing to American consumers through the fabrications and lies he admitted to under oath, that does not make it right. Let's see what unfolds over the next 3 months.
Image: Capeman29/Dreamstime.com
Deposition Transcript excerpt: Pacer.gov
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