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December 22, 2021

Maryland AG Indicts Trio Associated with Access Funding Structured Settlement Factoring Scam

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced the indictments of Raffi Michael Boghosian, Charles Edward Smith, Jr., and Anuj Maryland AG Indicts Trio Involved in Structured Settlement Factoring Scam
Sud relating to their alleged involvement with the structured settlement factoring company Access Funding between 2013 and 2015. Each individual is charged in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City with Theft Scheme Over $100,000 and Conspiracy to Commit Theft Scheme Over $100,000.

Access Funding’s offices and principal place of business were located in Montgomery County. In Maryland, Access Funding focused on obtaining structured settlement payment rights from mostly Black lead poisoning victims in Baltimore City in exchange for lump sum payments that averaged less than one third of the present-day value of the payment rights, and in some cases were as little as 8% of the present-day value of the payment rights.

The charges filed today relate to Access Funding’s acquisition of structured settlement payment rights valued at over $21 million belonging to 95 individuals. In exchange for their payment rights, Access Funding gave the owners a total of less than $7 million, significantly less than the actual value of the payment rights. “The operators of Access Funding allegedly preyed upon victims of lead paint poisoning to secure the rights to their structured settlements for a fraction of the actual value,” said Attorney General Brian Frosh. “These settlements are often a lifeline that provides victims with long-term
support for their injuries. Here, we are charging Raffi Boghosian, Charles Smith, and Anuj Sud with depriving the victims of their vital lifelines.”

Many of the Access deals were peddled to investors including retirees as secondary market annuities through tertiary market companies. 

Boghosian, Smith, and Sud are alleged to have prevented the 95 payment rights owners from receiving the independent professional advice that is a legal prerequisite for the transfer of structured settlement payment rights in Maryland. They are also alleged to have made or caused to be made false statements regarding the owners’ receipt of independent professional advice to induce a court to order the transfer of the owners’ payment rights. The defendants’ arraignments will be set in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

A criminal indictment is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and a defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Boghosian is Executive Vice President of Reliance Funding, the successor in interest to Access Funding. Boghosian makes no mention of Access Funding on his LinkedIn profile when we retrieved it on December 21, 2021.

In 2018 Anuj Sud was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine after he pleaded guilty in a scheme to accept bribes for votes while he was liquor commissioner for Prince George's County.  According to the Maryland Bar, Anuj Sud is disbarred.

 

 

 

Posted at 01:22 AM in Access Funding, Baltimore Structured Settlements, Bethesda Structured Settlements, Chevy Chase Structured Settlements, Factoring Company Bad Business Practices, Prince George's County Structured Settlements, Structured Settlement Factoring News, Structured Settlement Factoring Scam, Structured Settlement Watchdog® |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2023

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
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  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? How Structured Settlements Work
    How structured settlements work, including 4structures.com LLC's super helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in on the spectrum of settlement planning solutions.
  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
    Rated Ages for Structured Settlement Annuities present advantages to all parties. Shift the mortality risk to a life insurance company whose business it it is to assess mortality risk to price its life insurance and annuities. Rated ages boost your structured settlement annuity benefit per premium dollar, or your yield on lifetime payments. Rated ages help to reduce the cost of funding a Medicare Set Aside arrangement where a Structured MSA, is being used { WCMSA LMSA or NFMSA].
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2023
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities going into 2023? A list of current structured annuity issuers, the location of their home offices and their financial ratings from A.M. Best, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors and/or other Tier1 NAIC ratings, with links to their websites and other useful information.
  • Treasury Funded Structured Settlements
    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
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  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements
    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments. With a structured settlement you can have more than one type of payment in a single contract. Different types of structured settlement payments can be customized and combined to meet your needs on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with other financial products. Diversify your structured settlement, if you wish, by funding with more than one annuity issuer, with treasury funded structured settlements, index linked structured settlement payments and market based structured .
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Contingency Fees
    Structured attorney fees is a financial strategy that offers a unique way to defer taxes for lawyers and law firms. Lawyers CAN structure their legal fees even if the plaintiff doesn't structure their settlement. There are multiple ways to structure your attorney fees, such as the an index linked structured settlement where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 with no downside and a cap of 5%. Trial Lawyers may also use a special deferred pay/deferred compensation arrangement, if market based returns returns are desired with no cap. Plan NOW for year end! Put structured attorney fee expert John Darer® on your settlement planning team.
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers
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  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.
  • History of Structured Settlements
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  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
    Market based structured settlements are an alternative or supplementary structured settlement solution for the plaintiff, attorney or law firm that: 1. Can afford to take some market risk 2. Have discretionary settlement dollars. Claimants and attorneys alike may find that market-based structured settlements provide the opportunity to receive tax-free income, or tax-deferred income, while enjoying growth potential.
  • iStructure |Uncapped Fixed Index Structured Settlement Annuity
    iStructure is an innovative game changing fixed index structured settlement annuity for plaintiffs or attorneys. with an intermediate to long term horizon

Qualified Settlement Funds

  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
    Firmwide qualified settlement funds have been heavily promoted to trial lawyers, but have been debunked in a detailed analysis in a July 2022 legal opinion a tax partner at the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Trial lawyers and firms who have established Firmwide QSFs or coinsidering establishing a Firmwide QSF should read the analysis as part of their evaluation.

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