I spoke, at some length, with an Attorney for the AFMLS working on this case today. She is the same Attorney that graciously returned my call to discuss another issue a few weeks ago. During our discussion she told me the AFMLS is acutely aware of the various issues and problems with the remissions process to date, including the "affiliate issue", in fact they follow these forums. She said there has been some discussion about adding an FAQ or two to the web site to try to help people understand the process. In the interim, she shared the following:
1. GCG will not be the decision maker in allowing or denying petitions. It is the job of GCG to collect the petitions, compile information from them, identify issues and questions and to submit that information to the AFMLS for resolution. Consequently, the "affiliate" issue will be handled at levels above the scope of authority granted GCG.
2. This is the first million plus claim remission case the AFMLS has handled. It is also the first case that has allowed electronic submission of petitions. It has been and continues to be, challenging. As such they are still in the process of identifying problems and working on solutions. These problems include the inability to upload more than 10 documents and the inability to delete or amend a petition or document that has been submitted. She reports GCG is working on these types of solutions. She shared there is concern with the many multiple petitions filed by the same victim(s) delaying the process and suggests people get everything in order before they submit their petition and to have it ready when they submit.
3. She also suggests that petitions do not have to be submitted today and that petitions received on the last day to submit will be in the same position as petitions received on the first day. There will be no prejudice associated with filing later, rather than sooner.
4. She also indicated the AFMLS hopes to be able to make interim distributions in this case. This would mean that it is possible payments can be made to the undisputed claimants before all disputed claims are completely resolved. This decision has NOT YET BEEN MADE and will be primarily dependent on the calculations of total claims versus total money available to pay the the claim. Because of this the decision on making interim distributions must necessarily wait until sometime after the bar date and after the total amount of money claimed by petitioners is able to be calculated. With a million plus petitions she did say this may take some time.
5. She also shared that the concerns about the DOJ wanting to keep players money or delay payments so that interest can be collected are unfounded. It costs the DOJ money from their budget to prosecute these cases and make remissions. None of the money seized or forfeited goes to the DOJ.
6. She told me the DOJ wants to return the victims their money. They do not want the people responsible for the fraud or people that benefited directly from the fraud to also benefit from remission. This is the purpose of the "exclusion list".
7. She suggested that people that have learned from GCG that they are on the list and/or have been told they are an affiliate submit their petition, regardless of the status as reported by GCG. The AFMLS is aware that there are people identified as affiliates that are not really affiliates. She did not know if this issue is going to be resolved before the actual petition review, but she is confident it will be completely resolved so that innocent victims are paid their money.
8.The current plan for petitions that are in dispute and have problems identified by GCG, such as no proof or not enough proof of the loss claimed, is to send a deficiency notice to the petitioner to allow them to correct or amend their petition before it is submitted for a ruling. This may be the stage were petitioners are formally notified that they are on the "affiliate/exclusion list" and will serve to provide them the opportunity to explain why they were not an affiliate. She did say if a petitioner has been told by GCG they are on the list it would be okay to provide the reasoning as to why the petitioner is not an affiliate on the original petition. The submission of an amended petition after the deficiency notice is not the appeal from denial. It is an interim step the AFMLS and GCG have designed to make the petition approval process move faster and to minimize denied petitions and their subsequent appeal.
9. THE AFMLS, AS STATED ABOVE, IS AWARE THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE GCG LIST BEING IDENTIFIED AS AFFILIATES THAT ARE REALLY NOT AFFILIATES! The AFMLS Attorney assured me the government does not want to keep money that belongs to innocent victims. This attorney understood what a rakeback was. She understood that people were sometimes paid a referral bonus. She said these are not people that should or will be excluded from the remissions process. What she did not know as of today was what level of the process will deal with the final determination or eligibility for each petitioner.
10. She told me GCG should not be telling people they are excluded from submitting a petition. She recommends that everybody that feels they are a victim of the FTP file a petition. She wanted to make it clear to victims that they do not need a Petition and Control Number from GCG to submit a petition.
I know most of this information is not earth shattering news. In fact, most of it has already been posted ITT as opinion. But, I hope this serves to provide some confidence to the people understandably concerned because they are on the affiliate list that the AFMLS is at least aware of the issue and has plans to deal with it. The person I spoke with is a real person, an attorney for the AFMLS and is specifically assigned to the FTP case. I know it is no substitute for direct information, so I suggested, if possible, she try to get the topic added to FAQs as soon as possible. She indicated she would follow up with the proper people with that suggestion.
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Originally Posted by Dan Druff
