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Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission, Plaintiff v. Alliance Document Preparation, LLC, also doing business as EZ Doc Preps, Grads Aid, and First Document Aid; SBS Capital Group, Inc., also doing business as Grads United Discharge; SDB Holdings LL, also doing business as EZ Doc Preps, Allied Doc Prep, and Post Grad Services; First Student Aid LLC; United Legal Center LLC, also doing business as Post Grad Aid, Alumni Aid Assistance and United Legal Discharge; United Legal Center Inc., also doing business as United Legal Discharge; Elite Consulting Service LLC, formerly known as First Grad Aid LLC, also doing business as First Grad Aid; and Grads Doc Prep LLC, also doing business as Academic Aid Center, Academic Protection, Academy Doc Prep, and Academic Discharge; Elite Doc Prep LLC also doing business as Premier Student Aid; Benjamin Naderi also known as Benjamin Pournaderi and Benjamin Brooks; Shawn Gabbaie also known as Shawn Goodman; Avinadav Rubeni also known as Avi Rubeni; Michael Ratliff; Ramiar Reuveni also known as Rami Reuveni; and Farzan Azinkhan, Defendants, and Direct Consulting Service LLC and Capital Doc Prep Inc., Relief Defendants.
FTC Matter/File Number
172 3126
Civil Action Number
CV-17-07048 SJO (KS)
Â鶹´«Ã½ Type
Â鶹´«Ã½ Injunctions
Â鶹´«Ã½ Court
Central District of California

Case Summary

The operators of a student loan debt relief scam have agreed to settle Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission charges that they bilked millions from consumers by falsely claiming to enroll consumers in loan forgiveness programs, for which they charged up to $1,000 in illegal upfront fees. The FTC alleged in its complaint that the defendants deceptively telemarketed their document preparation service by misrepresenting an affiliation with the Department of Education or consumers’ loan servicers, and that consumers who paid defendants an up-front fee were qualified for or approved to receive permanently reduced monthly payments or their student loans would be forgiven or discharged. On September 30, 2019, the FTC sent more than $5.4 million to nearly 40,000 people who lost money to the alleged scheme.

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