GL Advisor’s offices were raided by the FBI, and its CEO and principal owner was arrested and charged with multiple counts of criminal fraud, identity theft, and obstruction of justice. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed a civil suit against GL Advisor and its owner for allegedly defrauding its student loan customers and its investors. You may want to sit down before reading the specific allegations set forth in the government’s criminal and civil complaints.
Amidst the turmoil, GL Advisor’s direct services to its student loan customers has seemingly deteriorated, as most of the core U.S.-based employees have left the company. They have since filed a class-action lawsuit for non-payment of wages.
What a mess. GL Advisor had offered a menu of financial services geared primarily towards graduates of professional schools with high levels of student debt. The company had a presence on many law school and medical school campuses throughout Massachusetts and beyond.
The collapse of GL Advisor is just the latest in a series of high-profile companies that have utterly failed student loan borrowers or downright defrauded them: from for-profit colleges, to debt collection agencies contracted with the U.S. Dept. of Education, to student loan servicing companies, and finally to non-attorney student loan “relief” companies. It seems that at every level, student loan borrowers just can’t get a break.
If there’s any good that can come out of all of this bad news, let’s hope that it arrives in the form of positive student loan reform and added consumer protections for student loan borrowers. We certainly need it.
