A Centralia couple is angry after getting ripped off by a man and his company that provides service to military families. They also believe they’re not the only victims.
Jimmy and Amanda Eversole’s bank accounts have been frozen by a company called Patriot Computers for a debt they believe they’d already paid.
Jimmy, a soldier in the army, bought the computer from Virginia-based Patriot Computers in 2007. In June 2008 he got a warrant stating he owed the company $1900.
“Literally the day that they say they served me, I was in Korea and I had my orders,” said Jimmy.
Jimmy was in Korea from June 21, 2007 to 2010. And when the couple went to court, they received a default judgment for not just $1,900 but instead $8,000.
“From what I can see his business was targeting the military,” said Jimmy.
Patriot Computers charged Jimmy the principal balance, along with a judgement costs, garnishment fees and interest. The total estimated to $4,835.40 and not $8,000.
The Eversole’s gave their information to their credit union Navy Federal, hoping the credit union would help them figure out the cost and reconsider unfreezing their accounts, but it did not.
“I was just shocked that my bank would enforce something that looked so, bogus,” said Amanda.
Here’s what I learned about Mark Hartley, the man behind Patriot Computers. He pleaded guilty in Federal Court to four counts of wire fraud. Hartley had more than$ 800,000 in customers payments siphoned to his own personal account. He will face between 41 to 51 months in prison. A source from the Department of Justice said Hartley is chasing old accounts to pay off his $800,000 restitution.
“I mean he’s going after victims, to repay his victims! That’s not right,” said Amanda.
A lawyer in a different lawsuit filed against Patriot Computers, said the company gave his client’s bank a bogus judgment and their account was also frozen.
As for Jimmy and Amanda, Navy Federal said it has no choice but to abide by the judgment.
“We just basically have to live in fear of this happening again. I would love to see this dismissed with prejudice. I don’t ever want to hear about it again,” said Amanda.
The service member’s relief act is meant to protect military members from default judgments but apparently that did not happen in this case. We’ve notified the authorities about these new cases. Hartley’s sentencing is set for early October.
