Washington DC - Two debt collection agencies were ordered to stop operations and fined more than $60 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York's Attorney General. The settlement involves debt companies run by Douglas MacKinnon and Mark Gray. Their companies are accused of using predatory collection tactics that include collecting false debts and impersonating police officers to force collection.

"Abusive debt collection practices need to be stopped,” stated Eric LeCompte who leads the religious debt watchdog group, Jubilee USA Network. “This settlement is a strong warning to debt collectors who engage in predatory activities."

Mackinnon and Gray's Buffalo-based network of debt collectors reportedly increased debt collection amounts, in some cases by as much as 600%.

Washington DC - Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned Wednesday. Protests engulfed the island for nearly two weeks after Rosselló drew criticism for offensive language in leaked communications and the FBI arrested former members of his administration on corruption charges.

"The people of Puerto Rico reached a boiling point in recent weeks. People were in the streets about much more than the Governor's inappropriate language,” stated Eric LeCompte, the head of Jubilee USA, which works on Puerto Rico corruption, disaster aid and debt relief policies. "Puerto Ricans marched because they are tired of corruption, because 6 out of 10 kids live in poverty, because of hundreds of shuttered schools, an enormous debt crisis, and months of waiting for promised hurricane disaster aid to arrive.”

In 2016 the US Congress passed emergency Puerto Rico debt crisis legislation for the US Territory which stopped paying $72 billion in debt. The child poverty rate is nearly 60 percent and in 2017 the island was devasted by two hurricanes.

"Rosselló's resignation is not enough to answer Puerto Rico's endemic corruption, high poverty levels, the economic crisis or being forgotten after hurricanes ravaged the island,” LeCompte stated. “Puerto Rico needs serious debt relief, sufficient disaster aid, strong public budget transparency laws and economic investments in growth, not more austerity policies."

Eric LeCompte was quoted by Quartz on U.S. multinational airline company Aircastle Ltd. avoiding $14.8 million in state taxes owed to the nation of South Africa. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story. 

A US multinational avoided South African taxes worth twice Johannesburg’s social housing budget

“While much of this behavior is legal, it is immoral,” Eric LeCompte, executive director of faith-based anti-poverty group Jubilee USA, said in a statement. “Developing countries are losing vital monies to fight poverty and build infrastructure because of this behavior that avoids paying taxes.”

Poorer countries lose up to $100 billion each year thanks to tax agreements with offshore jurisdictions like Mauritius, according to UN research. Fixing this imbalance, LeCompte said, is the only way for these nations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN in 2015, which established a series of economic and social benchmarks to be attained by 2030. On a broader scale, the Tax Justice Network, a research and advocacy group, estimates that multinationals shifting profits to tax havens costs the world’s governments more than $500 billion per year, with poorer countries losing the most as a percentage of GDP.

Read more here.

Washington DC - The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released evidence that laws in the country of Mauritius help corporations avoid taxes globally, including on the continent of Africa.

"The Mauritius story is another window into how poor countries are losing billions of dollars a year because of a complex, yet legal web of tax treaties and shell corporations," stated Eric LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert and head of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. "Developing countries are losing vital monies to fight poverty and build infrastructure because of this behavior that avoids paying taxes."

At the heart of the ICIJ investigation is the law firm of Conyers Dill and Pearman with offices in Bermuda, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Mauritius. More than 200,000 leaked Conyers Dill and Pearman legal documents were anonymously sent to the investigative journalists and detailed how corporations use Mauritius to avoid paying taxes. Previously, similar investigations dubbed the "Panama Papers" and the "Paradise Papers" were performed by the ICIJ exposing similar tax avoidance and evasion processes.

"While much of this behavior is legal, it is still immoral," noted LeCompte. "For poor countries to be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to eliminate this type of tax avoidance revenue loss."

Washington DC - The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released evidence that laws in the country of Mauritius help corporations avoid taxes globally, including on the continent of Africa.

Eric LeCompte the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA, releases the following statement:

"The Mauritius story is another window into how poor countries are losing billions of dollars a year because of a complex, yet legal web of tax treaties and shell corporations.

"For poor countries to be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to eliminate this revenue loss.

"While much of this behavior is legal, it is immoral. Developing countries are losing vital monies to fight poverty and build infrastructure because of this behavior that avoids paying taxes."

Washington DC - On Friday, former Credit Suisse banker Andrew Pearse pled guilty in US Federal Court for accepting millions of dollars in a fraud scheme that led to a $2 billion Mozambique loan scandal and debt crisis in the East African country. Pearse and six others are accused of taking $200 million in the scheme.

“Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, is dealing with a financial crisis because of the greed of corrupt bankers," said United Nations corruption and finance expert Eric LeCompte and Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “This behavior is only possible because of a lack of global loan transparency and a lack of public budget transparency in Mozambique.”

US prosecutors argue that Credit Suisse and Russian-based VTB finance group hid secret loans to the Mozambique government by bribing bank and government officials. The loans were supposed to support the tuna fishing industry, but instead supported the outfitting of boats for military attack crafts. When the secret loans to Mozambique were revealed in 2016, the IMF and World Bank cut ties with the country, halting development funding. This year, Mozambique was hit with two cyclones further impacting the debt ridden and poverty stricken country.

"Mozambique is struggling to recover from a debt crisis and terrible natural disasters," noted LeCompte.

Washington DC - The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, announced that she is resigning. Lagarde is pursuing her nomination to lead the European Central Bank. Her resignation takes effect on September 12th.

"Lagarde moved forward new focuses on gender and inequality at the International Monetary Fund," said Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. "After the Greek crisis, we saw her lead shifts in thinking on the problems with austerity, although we didn't see enough changes in austerity policies at the IMF."

Since the creation of the IMF and World Bank in 1945, the United States and Europe who hold the controlling votes of the financial institutions, had a "gentleman's agreement" that the head of the World Bank should be an American and the head of the IMF should be a European.

"Now that Lagarde is moving on, there are growing calls for the new head of the IMF to be selected based on the merits of the nominee as opposed to whether or not the person is born in Europe," stated LeCompte who serves on United Nations finance expert groups.

Washington DC - The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, announced Tuesday that she will resign on September 12th. Lagarde was nominated to lead the European Central Bank earlier this month.

Washington, DC - As Democratic presidential candidates debate student debt, States attempt to tackle what they see as a debt problem impacting their economies. California relieved $59 million in student debt for doctors in exchange for treating low-income communities. Maryland passed a tax credit to offer student debt relief.

“We are dealing with a student debt crisis that makes inequality worse," noted Eric LeCompte, the director of the religious debt relief group Jubilee USA. "Students are also being exploited by for-profit colleges that offers students high debt loads with too few job opportunities."

New US Federal research shows for-profit colleges are increasing student enrollment while increasing high levels of student debt. The data illustrates that less than 40% of students graduating from for-profit colleges had salaried positions a year from graduation. The federal research noted that public university and nonprofit private school graduates attained salaried positions at higher levels of between 45% and 51% within a year of graduation.

Read the recent federal research on for-profit colleges and debt

Read about student debt debated by presidential candidates and Republican and Democratic proposals

Washington, DC - On Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more relief aid to be sent to disaster-recovering Mozambique. The country is reeling from two devastating cyclones and wrestling with debts that Mozambique's high court calls illegal. 

“The International community needs to deliver rebuilding aid to Mozambique," noted UN finance expert and head of the religious development group Jubilee USA, Eric LeCompte. "Debts declared illegal by Mozambique's courts should not be repaid, especially as the country is struggling to recover."

The top court of Mozambique declared last month that the $850 million Eurobond to Ematum, the state-run tuna operation, is illegal.  In 2016, the International Monetary Fund ceased funding for the East-African country because of billions of dollars in debt that was supposed to equip fishing boats, but instead created Mozambique military attack crafts.

“Mozambique desperately needs debt and disaster relief,” said LeCompte. “Mozambique is a troubling tale of corruption and poor people being exploited because of a lack of public budget transparency and international standards on responsible lending," said LeCompte.