Business debt collection fraud by Gregory Stich
A lawyer in Ontario and one in Quebec have notified us that they have received an email from the purported Gregory Stich with regards to a debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.
Here is the initial email:
From: Gregory Stich
Date: Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 7:02 AM
Subject: Hello Counsel,
To:
Hello Counsel,
I am inquiring about the possibility of your firm demanding and representing me in the litigation of a breach of loan payment agreement. If this falls within the scope of your practice please get back to me so that I can send the copies of our agreements and more information.
Regards,
Gregory Stich
177 Avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest
Montréal, QC H2T 2Y6, Canada.
Email: gregory.stich@msn.com
One lawyer who replied got this response:
Thanks for your prompt response,I am so sorry for the late response,it’s been a very busy 3rd quarter for me.Below is the name of the borrower for your conflicts check:
Name-Nate Robinson
The Borrower is someone I have known for a few years and we have done business in the past without any issues.He has only paid $85,000 out of a total ($815,000) the balance is still outstanding till this day. I am in constant contact with him and even though he has promised to pay the balance, I think the threat or possibility of litigation would serve as a catalyst to make him pay sooner rather than later.
I am prepared to pay a reasonable retainer or collection costs for this service as soon as I get an engagement letter from your firm. I expect this to be a non-litigation collection from the borrower but I am prepared to litigate this matter if Mr.Robinson is not ready to pay the balance owed on the loan agreement.
I have attached to this mail a pdf version of the loan agreement promissory note for your perusal.Please send me a copy engagement letter so that we can proceed with this issue with Mr.Robinson. I want to also let you know that as a owner of a small business,this loan that I gave to him has caused considerable strain on my operational capital.Below is a break down on the loan capital and part payment he has made so far with the outstanding balance.
Amount Borrowed- $815,000.00
Date – 7/september/2012
Interest rate- 7.75 a year
Amount Paid From Capital-$85,000.00
Date Of Part Payment- June/7/2012
Outstanding Balance-$730,000
Regards,
Gregory Stich
How to handle a real or suspected fraud
If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to fraudinfo@lawpro.ca.
If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.
If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.
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Fraud Fact Sheet More fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.
