Hoyt Michael Torrey's Project Funding Fraud

[Joey Smith]

http://www.calbarjournal.com/December20 ... ments.aspx


HOYT MICHAEL TORREY [#224045], 45, of Mountain View was disbarred Oct. 21, 2010, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

The State Bar Court ordered the disbarment in a default proceeding in which Torrey faced charges in 10 consolidated matters. He claimed that he operated a 10-lawyer law firm in Mountain View, that he had relationships with loan processors and underwriters and that he maintained loan processing and loan underwriting departments. In reality, however, he was the only lawyer, relied on his girlfriend and others to help with his business and had no relationships with loan underwriters. The Mountain View address was a virtual office; in fact, Torrey worked out of his townhouse in Henderson, Nev.

He offered a variety of business funding agreements that offered loans in exchange for an upfront fee, including a 90-day business funding agreement (BFA), a premium business funding agreement and a “Super Corp” business funding agreement. The fees ranged from $2,000 to $37,500, and Torrey promised loans that could fund venture projects.

With a Super Corp BFA, for example, he said the party who paid the fee would receive an unsecured business line of credit/loan without proof of income or personal assets. The product, he said, came fully documented and with financials. The start-up fee of between $30,000 and $37,000 was to cover the costs “to purchase a lender preferred/full doc corporation that will have the necessary, strong financial and D&B [Dunn and Bradstreet] scores to quickly fund [the party’s] business venture project” with funding of more than $1 million.

In one case, an individual entered into a Super Corp BFA for a $33,500 upfront free and he was promised a $1,185,000 loan. The buyer was told Torrey purchased a corporation for him for which he would receive a loan. Torrey strung the client along, promising that payment of the funds was imminent. He also promised a refund of the fee if funding was not forthcoming. According to the bar charges, Torrey knew the client would never receive any funds and he had no intention of returning the fee.

Even when the client said his credit was ruined, Torrey continued to make promises and he never refunded any fees.

The bar accused him of 11 counts of moral turpitude for misappropriating fees, taking no action to facilitate any loans and making numerous misrepresentations. As a result of his conduct, one client was defrauded of more than $400,000, two people’s credit ratings were harmed, one made late mortgage payments and another borrowed money from her IRA for the fees and incurred a penalty for not repaying it within 90 days. Another client borrowed the upfront fee from a line of credit on his credit card and was charged 29 percent interest on the outstanding balance. Because that client did not receive a loan from Torrey’s business, his wife threatened to leave him. All the clients were strung along over a period of time with regard to obtaining their funds or refunds of their fees.

In recommending Torrey’s disbarment, Judge Lucy Armendariz said his “disregard of his clients’ interests is habitual and . . . his misconduct evidences a pattern of acts of moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption. [Torrey’s] matter is devoid of mitigation which could justify a discipline recommendation short of disbarment.” Armendariz ordered Torrey to make restitution of almost $650,000 plus 10 percent interest to 10 parties.

[Unidyne]

http://www.calbarjournal.com/December20 ... ments.aspx

HOYT MICHAEL TORREY [#224045], 45, of Mountain View was disbarred Oct. 21, 2010, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

The State Bar Court ordered the disbarment in a default proceeding in which Torrey faced charges in 10 consolidated matters. He claimed that he operated a 10-lawyer law firm in Mountain View, that he had relationships with loan processors and underwriters and that he maintained loan processing and loan underwriting departments. In reality, however, he was the only lawyer, relied on his girlfriend and others to help with his business and had no relationships with loan underwriters. The Mountain View address was a virtual office; in fact, Torrey worked out of his townhouse in Henderson, Nev.

As someone who lives in Henderson, Nevada, I believe a explanation is due. Southern Nevada is a hotbed for psycho-patriotism and "sovrun" nonsens, so all this tax protester stuff from Henderson should come as no surprise. (I've personally seen at least 5 homemade "Sovereign Citizen" license plates in the past 3 years.) Remember that before his sorry ass was thrown into Federal Prison, Irwin Schiff operated his "tax consulting" business from an office in Las Vegas.