Former Credit Collections Owner Convicted For Fraud

The former owner of Fishers-based DECA Financial Services has received a more than four-year sentence after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges. The office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Josh Minkler says Todd J. Wolfe, who started the credit collections company in 2009, used ill-gotten lines of credit to pay for personal expenses.

Following his release from prison, Wolfe must also serve three years of supervised release pay back more than $5 million to victims. Minkler says "defrauding a financial institution effects all honest, hardworking individuals. Anyone who uses their position to abuse the public’s trusts will be held strictly accountable."

He plead guilty to charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Documents allege Wolfe filed false financial statements that over-represented the value of his company, which he used to take out massive lines of credit for the business. He used much of the money for personal use including payments on his house, car, credit cards and a lake house. Wolfe is also accused of selling an ownership stake in the company, which he never repaid to the investor. During 2014 bankruptcy proceedings, a lawyer representing Wolfe filed court documents suggesting Wolfe’s living trust was worth more than $14 million, when it was actually valued at $52,000.

The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Trustee for Region 10.