LOS ANGELES (CN) - Lawsuit Financing Inc. "targets disabled people" and "extorted outrageous amounts of money from its customers," charging more than 400% interest on a 2-year loan, a customer claims in a Superior Court class action. Robert Bohlke says he "was induced to borrow $45,000 from Lawsuit Financing," which demanded repayment of $250,000 two years later.
Represented by Venus Soltan of Newport Beach, Bohlke sued Lawsuit Financing, Rainmaker USA, Melvin Present, Michael C. Bilinsky, and Lawsuit Financing.com. He alleges fraud and unfair trade, and claims the scheme has netted "hundreds" of victims.
Bohlke claims the defendants violate usury laws, offering "so-called advances against their eventual lawsuit recovery."
The complaint continues: "Defendants acting collectively under the name 'Lawsuit Financing' extorted outrageous amounts of money from its customers, including plaintiff Robert Bohlke. After lending relatively minor sums of money to the victims of personal injury accidents, they demanded repayment of many times the original loan amount, wrongfully interfered with the victims' access to their recovery from their personal injury claims, tried to squeeze settlements, filed actions in foreign jurisdictions against both the victims and their personal injury counsel, deceiving those courts into rendering judgments in violation of California law, and interfered with the relationship between those victims and their personal injury counsel."
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