Lawyers Investigated For Defrauding Lead Paint Victims

Two Maryland lawyers are being investigated by the state Attorney General for making false statements and misleading victims who were awarded settlements in lead paint cases. The probe comes amid increasing scrutiny of the settlement purchasing industry, which has purchased millions of dollars in settlement payments from lead paint victims for dimes on the dollar. In a report, it was revealed that one firm, Access Funding, purchased payment streams that totaled $28.7 million in exchange for $6.8 million. “In this manner, Access Funding entities extracted, at a minimum, a total of nearly $15 million from poor and vulnerable Marylanders from June 2013 to August 2015,” the pleading said.