The state of Oregon has filed an agreement with a Washington state "unclaimed asset" recovery business and its Portland owner who allegedly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of customers all over the country but failed to deliver most of what was collected.
Named in an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance are Donald Ray Cooley, Jr. of Portland and his business Titan Asset Recovery, Inc., currently located in Vancouver, Washington. No violation of law was admitted.
"Asset recovery businesses have increased in number over the last five years but, unfortunately, so has the amount of fraudulent activity associated with that industry," Attorney General Hardy Myers said. "Because many of these operations are outright scams, it is extremely important that Oregonians know the process used by these 'money finders' and how to check them out before signing on the dotted line."
Oregon Department of Justice investigators received 15 complaints from Titan Asset Recovery customers over the last six months containing copies of agreements to collect lost, misplaced or unknown assets in exchange for a percentage of the recovery. Most of the "found" assets were in the form of money and most customers never received their share of more than $241,000 in assets.
Under the agreement, Cooley and his company are permanently prevented from future operations of an "asset finder" business in Oregon but are allowed to "wind-down" current operations with existing customers only. The company cannot make new agreements of any kind.
Cooley and his company also must pay restitution owed to customers plus 10 percent interest over the next 10 months. The first payment must equal 20 percent of the $241,803 owed consumers.
A $32,000 payment owed to the Justice Consumer Protection and Education Fund has been suspended but could be reinstated if the company misses any consumer payments or fails to comply with any part of the court order.
In addition to providing restitution, the respondents must comply with Oregons consumer protection laws and, for the next five years, inform Justice, in writing, of any new business in which they are involved.
