v.
Hornbeam Special Situations,
LLC; Cardinal Points Holdings,
LLC; Cardinal Points
Management, LLC, also d/b/a
Clear Compass Digital Group;
Gyroscope Management
Holdings, LLC; EDebitPay, LLC;
Platinum Online Group, LLC,
also d/b/a as Premier
Membership Clubs;
clickXchange Media, LLC;
iStream Financial Services,
Inc.; Jerry L. Robinson, Earl G.
Robinson, and James McCarter,
individually and as members of Hornbeam
Special Situations, LLC; Cardinal Points
Holdings, LLC; Cardinal Points
Management, LLC; and Gyroscope
Management Holdings, LLC; Keith
Merrill, individually and as an officer
of EDebitPay, LLC; Platinum Online
Group, LLC; clickXchange Media, LLC.
Cardinal Points Management, LLC, and
Gyroscope Management Holdings, LLC;
Mark Ward, individually and as an
officer of Cardinal Points Management,
LLC; Gyroscope Management
Holdings, LLC; Dale Paul
Cleveland and William R.
Wilson, individually and as members of
EDebitPay, LLC; Platinum Online Group,
LLC; and clickXchange Media, LLC;
Kris Axberg, Richard Joachim
and Chet Andrews, individually
and as officers of iStream Financial
Services, Inc.,
Defendants.
Case Summary
A payment processing company that allegedly helped a bogus discount club scheme debit tens of millions of dollars from consumers without authorization will be required to pay $2.3 million and face a permanent ban from working with high-risk clients as a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit.
According to the FTC’s complaint in the case, which was first filed in 2017, iStream Financial Services and its senior officers, Kris Axberg and Richard Joachim, allegedly debited money from consumers who were seeking payday or cash advance loans, but were enrolled in a bogus coupon service and charged initial fees up to almost $100 plus as much as $19.95 each month. Consumers were enrolled in the discount club scheme online and through outbound telemarketing.