AmeriDebt Founder Accused of Hiding Funds

Andris Pukke, founder of the Germantown, MD-based AmeriDebt, Inc., has decided to remain in hot water.

Pukke is already in dutch with the government after AmeriDebt, a credit counseling firm, was accused of bilking its former customers. Now? Pukke is accused of defying a court order by hiding his assets from investigators.

“We have had a long and arduous battle trying to get the straight story with respect to his assets, and we are not through yet,” Gary Caris, an attorney for Robb Evans and Associates, the receiver that is tracking down Pukke’s money to help reimburse AmeriDebt customers, told the Washington Post.

The dispute is the latest in an ongoing legal battle between Pukke and federal regulators who claimed he and AmeriDebt made $172 million through hidden fees charged to 300,000 customers who sought credit counseling.

Pukke admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement but agreed to use his personal assets, including several mansions, to create the restitution fund. A federal judge froze Pukke’s assets in April 2005 and appointed the receiver.