The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has reached an agreement with Denver-based RMI Associates and its principals, Russell Bryant III and Damon Smith , that bars them from engaging in any operation that offers to help consumers receive restitution or conducts any form of consumer advocacy.
The consent decree also requires RMI Associates to pay the state $300,000 in restitution and fines.
RMI also did business under the names of recovermyinvestment and Daily Deal 360,Inc, said the attorney general’s office.
In August, the attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against RMI alleging the company claimed that in exchange for an upfront fee it could help victims recover their losses related to a consumer protection lawsuit the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission filed against Westminster-based Dalbey Education Institute , formerly known as American’s Note Network .
The lawsuit against RMI alleged that Smith, a former sales employee for Dalbey, obtained a “sucker list” containing the names of Dalbey consumers, including many who lost more than $10,000.
The state alleged that Smith partnered with Bryant and Bryant’s existing company, Daily Deal , to form RMI .
The Attorney General’s Office alleged that Smith and others at RMI contacted Dalbey victims and victimized them a second time by falsely claiming RMI would recover the money the consumer lost in the Dalbey transaction.
Allegedly RMI charged as much as $995 for their “specialized service.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
