Image from Flickr.

It’s true, you can’t be thrown in prison for 10 years for robbing a cash advance loans store. However, the situation is different if you have already served time for robbery before. A man who robbed a payday loan store in Minnesota at gun point has been sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by six years of extended supervision.

There are a few other extenuating circumstances that contributed to the lengthy sentence given to Raymundo Gallegos. He has been in prison for armed robbery before, and the judge said Gallegos didn’t show remorse for this crime. Furthermore, his charge comes with the added detail that he used “threat of force.” Two employees at the payday loan store says he threatened to shoot them in the head if they didn’t give him cash.

Details on the robbery

The robbery occurred June 16, and despite the months that have gone by, one employee is still on medical leave because she is too afraid to go to work. The manager of the cash advance loan store, called Check Mate Cash Advance Center, said he wasn’t scared, but he was angry.

After Gallegos pulled out a handgun at the payday loan store in LaCrosse county, the manager says, “”I had to stare down the barrel of that gun for two to three minutes. I have to live with the fact that, had that gun gone off, I might not be standing here today.”

A special case

Perhaps the judge was trying to make somewhat of  an example of Gallegos. The judge during the sentencing said “What you did cannot be excused in any way, shape or form.” Payday loan store robberies have become more and more common lately as criminals have figured out that the stores must keep large amounts of cash on hand in order to do business.

Unfortunately, most payday loan store robberies do not end with the robber getting 10 years in prison. Usually, the last thing heard about a payday loan store robbery is that “police are seeking a suspect.” Last week, several reports flooded in about payday loan store robberies, including incidents in Oklahoma, Kansas and Indiana. In most cases, the culprits have not been found. However, payday loan stores every day are increasing security measures, and police are starting to crack down in many areas.

Image from wikispaces.com

Most of the payday loan related crimes I write about involve petty thieves pointing guns in people’s faces and taking off with a bunch of cash. Today, however, I came across a payday loan crime of a different type.

I don’t know if this guy was giving out fax payday loans or no fax payday loans or what, but he wasn’t giving out nearly as much as he told  his investors he was. Here’s the scoop.

From the Baltimore Business Journal:

Alvin Allister Ambrose, 37, formerly of Broadwater Road in Clarksville, was sentenced by Howard County Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. McCrone to eight years in prison, with all but six months suspended, and ordered to pay $602,790 to investors.

Ambrose was convicted on June 28 on charges stemming from his misuse of $5.04 million in funds invested by more than 180 investors to provide payday loans to clients of Ambrose’s cash-advance business with a promised high rate of return to investors, the Attorney General’s office said. The state’s investigation determined that, of that amount, Ambrose invested only $261,932 in payday loans, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Prison for payday loan fraud

Ambrose was charged with “fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary.” I wonder how long it will take him to pay back the $602,790? It’s odd to me that he was sentenced to eight years in prison but will really only go there for six months, but this type of thing happens all the time so I guess the justice system knows what it’s doing.

This just highlights the fact that there are a whole lot of scammers out there. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how well you research a person before letting them handle your money, but it never hurts to thoroughly check out a business, individual securities broker or anyone else who you’re allowing to invest your money.

Federal Trade Commission cracks down

Last month, the FTC once again announced it would strengthen its efforts to reduce fraud and scamming. The FTC web site says:

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a law enforcement crackdown on scammers trying to take advantage of the economic downturn to bilk vulnerable consumers through a variety of schemes, such as promising non-existent jobs; promoting overhyped get-rich-quick plans, bogus government grants, and phony debt-reduction services; or putting unauthorized charges on consumers’ credit or debit cards.

Phony debt reduction and unauthorized charges? Pretty scary stuff.

Debt consolidation scams

Often the debt consolidation scammers pretend that they’re a debt consolidator and tell you they’ll give you a loan which will pay off all of your debts, and then you can just pay back the loan.

However, what often happens is that the fake debt counselor will collect a big chunk of money as a down payment for the loan and then just disappear, leaving your debt fully intact.

Do your homework

I know I already said this, but make you you do careful research when selecting  a financial expert for any reasons. Scammers have also posed as fake mortgage modification companies.

Alvin Allister Ambrose isn’t the first person to lie about what he is doing with people’s money, and he won’t be the last.