Bill Bartmann Acquitted on All Counts

TULSA, OK – A federal jury acquitted former Commercial Financial Services (CFS) CEO and co-founder Bill Bartmann late Wednesday of charges tied to the collection agency?s collapse. Investors lost $1.6 billion after CFS folded.

After hearing eight weeks of testimony from 53 prosecution witnesses, jurors deliberated for more than four days before acquitting Bartmann of 57 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. The indictment also sought a money judgment of $129.6 million from Bartmann.

“I’m ecstatic,” Bartmann said after the verdict was read. “The consolation is we had one thing they (the government) didn’t have: We had the truth.”

Bartmann founded CFS with his wife and Jay L. Jones in 1986.

The company purchased credit card debt from banks and sought to recover the debt with in-house collections. It used money from bond issues, a central issue in the case, to buy more accounts. At its peak, CFS employed 3,900 workers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Jones struck a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to serve as the government’s key witness linking Bartmann to a shell company called Dimat Inc. Jones is currently serving a 5-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and fraud.

Prosecutors accused Bartmann of using Dimat to buy accounts CFS couldn’t collect, allowing the company to meet collection goals that were needed to pay off bondholders. Bartmann’s defense claimed he was just buying Jones’ CFS shares, and Jones was making the Dimat purchases behind Bartmann’s back so he could form a rival collection agency.

The company collapsed after an anonymous letter to rating agencies revealed the scheme. CFS’ credit rating fell and it filed for bankruptcy.

Editor’s Note: This news is obviously very big in the credit and collection industry. We would love to hear how you feel about the outcome of this particular case. Feel free to send your comments to editor@collectionindustry.com.