Trio Indicted In Alleged Structured Settlement Payment Scheme
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh on Tuesday announced the indictments of three men accused of preying on victims of lead paint poisoning.
Raffi Michael Boghosian, Charles Edward Smith, Jr., and Anuj Sud are charged with theft scheme over $100,000 and conspiracy to commit theft scheme over $100,000, the Attorney General's Office said.
The trio is alleged to have been involved with Access Funding, a structured settlement firm based in Montgomery County, which purchased settlement payment rights from lead paint poisoning victims in Baltimore City.
"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," Frosh said. "These settlements are often a lifeline that provides victims with long-term support for their injuries."
On average, the victims received less than one-third of the present-day value of those rights, and in some cases as little as 8 percent of the rights' value, the attorney general's office said.
The men's charges are linked to Access Funding's acquisition of roughly $21 million worth of payment rights from 95 individuals. Frosh's office said the company paid less than $7 million for those rights.
Boghosian, Smith and Sud are accused of preventing the 95 rights owners from receiving independent professional advice about their settlements and misleading the court to secure the transfer of the owners' payment rights.