CHATSWORTH : Man Sentenced in Credit Card Case

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to pay restitution and perform community service Thursday after pleading no contest to charges that he ran a phony credit service, bilking people by promising them credit cards they didn’t get.

Deputy City Atty. Fay Chu said that people who sent $50 to Victor Leroy Taylor in response to his ads believed that they would get a MasterCard or VISA.

Taylor was sentenced by Los Angeles Municipal Commissioner Harold S. Vites. He was ordered to perform 480 hours of community service work, half of it removing graffiti, and to pay a total of $6,070, including restitution to 11 victims, and $5,520 in investigative costs to the U.S. Postal Inspector, Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn said.

Taylor pleaded no contest to three counts of violating civil codes that regulate credit. He was accused of accepting money for credit services before the credit was provided. He was also accused of advertising and conducting a credit-service business without proper registration and bonding, Hahn said.

But Taylor’s attorney, Barry Hammond, said that the allegations that Taylor’s advertisements were misleading could not be proven.

Chu said Taylor, whose operated businesses called First Nationwide Financial, Vic Taylor Co. and American Pacific Financial, was charged after at least 200 complaints were made against him by customers in several states.

Among those complaining was First Nationwide Bank, a bank with no connection to Taylor, she said.

According to prosecutors, Taylor used direct mailings, cable television spots and radio ads to ask customers to mail a $50 processing fee to three Van Nuys mail receiving companies.

Some people received a booklet on how to establish new credit, others received nothing, prosecutors said. None received credit cards, although some of those who complained received $30 refunds, authorities said.

Hammond said although Taylor was not properly licensed, his business aims were legitimate; he offered people instruction on how to remedy bad credit.

Taylor has since reworded his advertisements to clarify that he is offering advice--not credit cards--and is in the process of registering and bonding his business, Hammond said.