As embezzlement cases continue to rise both within and without of the Mortgage Field Services Industry, Foreclosurepedia felt it urgent to put out a brief statement. Probably the most well known case of embezzlement came from GTJ Consulting‘s – also known as GTJ Online – CEO Brandon Johnson whom embezzled over $10 Million to fuel his illegal narcotics binge and was finally convicted, years later, in federal court. Many asked how it was possible that GTJ Consulting, a firm with direct contract arrangements with Government Sponsored Entities and US government agencies, took years to detect the embezzlement. In fact, the federal government took great pains to paint the picture of how Johnson’s co-defendant, an 18 year old street peddler, had somehow masterminded not only the embezzlement, but had orchestrated a large and complicated money laundering scheme. As opposed to Johnson, whom received a sweetheart deal from federal prosecutors, his co-defendant came to realize precisely how far a National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) member would go to protect their own. Foreclosurepedia had broken the story as early as 2014 and in the ensuing years we continued to report on Johnson’s drug addiction and rehabilitation, but it was only when the Detroit News broke the story in 2023, that anyone – really no one – noticed it.
In the case of GTJ Consulting and Johnson, the fraud had an eerie similarity to how other NAMFS members such as the NAMFS Board of Directors Secretary, Heather Berghorst, had overseen millions of dollars systematically defrauded from Labor. A simple search of Foreclosurepedia or the US Bankruptcy courts in Michigan will reveal the entire sordid details.
And while I have no love for NAMFS members let alone those whom are national and regional order mills profiting on the backs of Labor each day, the reality is that
embezzlement is back. Much like NAMFS 3.0: Lie Hard With A Vengeance, it is a tale of firms refusing to keep even the most basic of security protocols in place which NAMFS itself screams Labor must do. I point this out as there is not a single law, rule, or regulation which NAMFS members have not offloaded upon the shoulders of Labor – all of which have come with price cuts instead of increases! And as the #TwoForVerisk, NAMFS Executive Director Eric Miller and NAMFS President Matt Zoldowski have overseen not only the collapse of NAMFS itself – #95 is the number of firms attending the latest NAMFS #FraudFest compared to hundreds just a couple of years ago – they now are the poster children of antitrust. Attempting to coin the recent SpaceX failure, NAMFS members are calling it a rapid unscheduled disassembly of membership. And while in the past Miller, Mr. Aw-Shucks and Wink and a Nod, had forever launched threats and intimidation against Labor and most especially Foreclosurepedia, the reality today is that he is nothing more than Blow Hard With A Vengeance.
This year, we are already out the gate with roughly a million dollars worth of embezzlement – almost half of that verified and pending criminal indictments – the reality is that the time for responsibility has finally come for those whom issue the work orders to follow their playbook forced upon Labor and implement it themselves. In fact, I would submit that financial stress tests should be placed upon firms issuing work orders and that further, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should finally come clean with the statistics of failure within the HUD Management and Marketing (M&M) Field Service Manager (FSM) contract. HUD’s premise that it is allowed to spend US taxpayer’s hard earned money and yet the US taxpayer is not grown up enough to know the bitter truth of how it is squandered just doesn’t pass the smell test. This is especially true when tHUD continues to hire the same washed up firms that they have documented have no ability to perform and pose a clear and present danger within the HUD M&M FSM. It is the black eye that has followed HUD for decades. In fact, the only legitimate reason for continuing the protection of offenders like this is to keep the wheels of fiscal irresponsibility churning.
Look, I am not going to tell companies how to take the time to read their ledgers. After all, the morning financials should be side-by-side with the work orders complete and in field. What I am going to say, though, is that when, not if, I find that the funds lost from these company’s employees criminal actions are placed on the backs of Labor to repatriate, I am going to drill down so deep it will take a proctologist in order to sit down for the next six months. With a bankruptcy rate totaling $135 Million in book value to date – not counting the NFN Involuntary Bankruptcy – and the collapse of NAMFS itself, I would say it might be cheaper to reach out to professionals for consultation when it comes to running a business than face the spectre of collapse.
The days of zero transparency and the defraudment of Labor are long gone just like the #TwoForVerisk will soon be. Get your affairs in order because class is in session!
