An inmate at the federal detention facility in Batavia, who was already in trouble for reportedly using illegal tactics in debt collection, has been accused by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of operating a collection agency from inside the prison.
Lamont Cooper, 38, formerly of Lancaster, operated CMC Recovery Services, Inc., d/b/a Legal Action Recovery in Buffalo, from prison in violation of a May 2009 court order barring him from the collection industry, according to the felony complaint. He was barred after an earlier investigation determined his business regularly used threats and intimidation against consumers.
The complaint alleges that Cooper’s collectors routinely pose as law enforcement and threaten to arrest consumers unless they make arrangements to pay the company immediately. The complaint further alleges Cooper’s involvement in the scheme continued after he was taken into federal custody in October 2009 for being found in violation of the terms of his release from a 1997 drug conviction.
