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By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal business writer
POSTED: 08:16 p.m. EST, Jan 03, 2008
Falls Consumer Credit Management Inc., a South Akron agency that helps people deal with credit crises, was raided on Dec. 27 and is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Jackson Township Police Department.
Falls Consumer Credit, 1650 S. Arlington St., Suite B, formerly on Bailey Road in Cuyahoga Falls, is the subject of eight complaints filed in the last week with the Ohio Attorney General -- including five filed today -- and five complaints filed with the Akron-area Better Business Bureau since Christmas.
Customers said the agency collected as much as two months' worth of debt payments, but failed to pay their creditors.
Also, the president of Falls Consumer Credit, Craig K. Rohr, and his wife, Kristine M. Rohr, were sued in late November by Hartville Homes in Stark County Common Pleas Court.
Efforts to contact the Rohrs were unsuccessful.
Hartville Homes, based in Jackson Township, operates six adult residential facilities in Hartville and near Coshocton for people with developmental and physical disabilities.
The suit contends that Rohr, as chief financial officer of Hartville Homes for seven years, embezzled an undetermined amount of money and property from Hartville Homes.
According to court documents, Hartville Homes officials believe Rohr wrote checks drawn on Hartville Home's corporate account for personal use and deposited the funds into accounts of businesses the Rohrs are believed to have owned or controlled.
Among the corporations named in the suit are Falls Consumer Credit, Omega B Group and Rohr's Billing and Specialty Services.
Two other companies named as possibly involved are Massillon Window Cleaning Co. and Cromag Investments, both registered with the Ohio Secretary of State under Craig Rohr's name.
Hartville Homes contends that the Rohrs used the money to buy real estate and other items.
Ben Sommers, who heads the board of trustees for Hartville Homes, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying there was an ongoing investigation. Sommers confirmed that Rohr was Hartville Homes' chief financial officer until November.
Jackson Township Police Lt. Rick Mitchell would not confirm whether the department's investigation involves Rohr. But Mitchell confirmed that Falls Consumer Credit is part of the criminal investigation led by his department. He said there are ''multiple businesses'' involved.
Mitchell also confirmed that his officers executed a search warrant at the South Arlington Street offices on Dec. 27 with the assistance of Akron police.
Some computers and miscellaneous paperwork were confiscated, but the business was not shut down, Mitchell said.
''We didn't shut the business down, but everyone is being referred to the (Ohio Attorney General's Office),'' Mitchell said.
Falls Consumer Credit is closed, but it is not clear why.
The agency's status as an Ohio corporation also is unclear. Incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1995, state records show that Falls Consumer Credit failed to renew its charter and was cancelled as an ongoing corporation in March 2007.
Customers contacted by the Beacon Journal said the agency has not been open since last week and that a message on the answering machine changed Wednesday to say the office was closed from Dec. 31 through Jan. 4. The message instructed callers not to leave a voice message because they would not be checked. Instead, they could communicate by mail or fax.
The Rohrs, who live in Tuscarawas Township near Massillon, have an unlisted number and could not be reached. Messages were left at Falls Consumer Credit and another business that court records show is owned by the Rohrs.
According to court documents, the Rohrs also are believed to have a residence in Venice, Fla.
Brenda Biro of Cuyahoga Falls didn't know anything was wrong with her debt-repayment plan through Falls Consumer Credit until a creditor called her right before Thanksgiving to tell her she had missed a payment. Each month, the agency automatically deducted $865 from Biro's checking account and made payments to seven accounts for Biro while keeping $15 as a fee.
When Biro, who had entered a debt-repayment program through Falls Consumer Credit a year ago, called the agency about the payment problem, she was told there had been a computer glitch with electronic payments that would get fixed. Biro said she also received a letter from the agency in early December saying the same thing.
But the creditor continued to call, saying the payment had not been made. Biro said she was assured by a man at the agency who identified himself as ''Craig,'' that the payment would be made. She last spoke with him on Dec. 13.
The day after Christmas, Biro said, she called back to the agency after getting more calls from the creditor and was told by a secretary that Craig was not available and that the secretary was taking messages. Biro said that in subsequent calls she was never able to leave a message on the machine.
Biro, who estimated she had paid about $10,000 of her original $40,000 debt through the agency, is in a panic. She closed her checking account and opened a new one to stop any further payments to Falls Consumer Credit, but said $1,730 had been taken out of her account and not paid to her creditors.
''I do not have the money to get up to date because they have all of my money,'' Biro said. ''A lawyer said I need to file bankruptcy and I don't want to do that.''
Marilyn Helton of Stow has a very similar story. Two months worth of payments totaling $1,142 were taken from her checking account, but not paid to her creditors by Falls Consumer Credit. When Helton called the agency after getting a creditor call, she said she gave it the benefit of the doubt that there had been a computer error.
Helton, who is 76, has been a customer of Falls Consumer Credit since 2004 and has paid off four credit cards.
''I didn't know anything was wrong until last week,'' she said, when one of her creditors called to say it had not been paid. ''It's the worst feeling.''
Helton said she was confused, though, because when she called her largest creditor today, she was told that a payment was made on Dec. 31. She's hoping her payments have been sent, but has yet to call all of her creditors.
Falls Consumer Credit Management Inc., a South Akron agency that helps people deal with credit crises, was raided on Dec. 27 and is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Jackson Township Police Department.
Falls Consumer Credit, 1650 S. Arlington St., Suite B, formerly on Bailey Road in Cuyahoga Falls, is the subject of eight complaints filed in the last week with the Ohio Attorney General -- including five filed today -- and five complaints filed with the Akron-area Better Business Bureau since Christmas.
Customers said the agency collected as much as two months' worth of debt payments, but failed to pay their creditors.
Also, the president of Falls Consumer Credit, Craig K. Rohr, and his wife, Kristine M. Rohr, were sued in late November by Hartville Homes in Stark County Common Pleas Court.
Efforts to contact the Rohrs were unsuccessful.
Hartville Homes, based in Jackson Township, operates six adult residential facilities in Hartville and near Coshocton for people with developmental and physical disabilities.
The suit contends that Rohr, as chief financial officer of Hartville Homes for seven years, embezzled an undetermined amount of money and property from Hartville Homes.
According to court documents, Hartville Homes officials believe Rohr wrote checks drawn on Hartville Home's corporate account for personal use and deposited the funds into accounts of businesses the Rohrs are believed to have owned or controlled.
Among the corporations named in the suit are Falls Consumer Credit, Omega B Group and Rohr's Billing and Specialty Services.
Two other companies named as possibly involved are Massillon Window Cleaning Co. and Cromag Investments, both registered with the Ohio Secretary of State under Craig Rohr's name.
Hartville Homes contends that the Rohrs used the money to buy real estate and other items.
Ben Sommers, who heads the board of trustees for Hartville Homes, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying there was an ongoing investigation. Sommers confirmed that Rohr was Hartville Homes' chief financial officer until November.
Jackson Township Police Lt. Rick Mitchell would not confirm whether the department's investigation involves Rohr. But Mitchell confirmed that Falls Consumer Credit is part of the criminal investigation led by his department. He said there are ''multiple businesses'' involved.
Mitchell also confirmed that his officers executed a search warrant at the South Arlington Street offices on Dec. 27 with the assistance of Akron police.
Some computers and miscellaneous paperwork were confiscated, but the business was not shut down, Mitchell said.
''We didn't shut the business down, but everyone is being referred to the (Ohio Attorney General's Office),'' Mitchell said.
Falls Consumer Credit is closed, but it is not clear why.
The agency's status as an Ohio corporation also is unclear. Incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1995, state records show that Falls Consumer Credit failed to renew its charter and was cancelled as an ongoing corporation in March 2007.
Customers contacted by the Beacon Journal said the agency has not been open since last week and that a message on the answering machine changed Wednesday to say the office was closed from Dec. 31 through Jan. 4. The message instructed callers not to leave a voice message because they would not be checked. Instead, they could communicate by mail or fax.
The Rohrs, who live in Tuscarawas Township near Massillon, have an unlisted number and could not be reached. Messages were left at Falls Consumer Credit and another business that court records show is owned by the Rohrs.
According to court documents, the Rohrs also are believed to have a residence in Venice, Fla.
Brenda Biro of Cuyahoga Falls didn't know anything was wrong with her debt-repayment plan through Falls Consumer Credit until a creditor called her right before Thanksgiving to tell her she had missed a payment. Each month, the agency automatically deducted $865 from Biro's checking account and made payments to seven accounts for Biro while keeping $15 as a fee.
When Biro, who had entered a debt-repayment program through Falls Consumer Credit a year ago, called the agency about the payment problem, she was told there had been a computer glitch with electronic payments that would get fixed. Biro said she also received a letter from the agency in early December saying the same thing.
But the creditor continued to call, saying the payment had not been made. Biro said she was assured by a man at the agency who identified himself as ''Craig,'' that the payment would be made. She last spoke with him on Dec. 13.
The day after Christmas, Biro said, she called back to the agency after getting more calls from the creditor and was told by a secretary that Craig was not available and that the secretary was taking messages. Biro said that in subsequent calls she was never able to leave a message on the machine.
Biro, who estimated she had paid about $10,000 of her original $40,000 debt through the agency, is in a panic. She closed her checking account and opened a new one to stop any further payments to Falls Consumer Credit, but said $1,730 had been taken out of her account and not paid to her creditors.
''I do not have the money to get up to date because they have all of my money,'' Biro said. ''A lawyer said I need to file bankruptcy and I don't want to do that.''
Marilyn Helton of Stow has a very similar story. Two months worth of payments totaling $1,142 were taken from her checking account, but not paid to her creditors by Falls Consumer Credit. When Helton called the agency after getting a creditor call, she said she gave it the benefit of the doubt that there had been a computer error.
Helton, who is 76, has been a customer of Falls Consumer Credit since 2004 and has paid off four credit cards.
''I didn't know anything was wrong until last week,'' she said, when one of her creditors called to say it had not been paid. ''It's the worst feeling.''
Helton said she was confused, though, because when she called her largest creditor today, she was told that a payment was made on Dec. 31. She's hoping her payments have been sent, but has yet to call all of her creditors.
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