$45.9m taken from borrowers by a fake Department of Education
The FTC settled with the operators of Nevada-based Superior Servicing in September 2025 over allegations that they posed as the Department of Education or its loan servicers, promised forgiveness, and pocketed the upfront fees borrowers believed were going to their loan balances. More than $45.9 million was taken; a further operator was banned in July 2026.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Settled
- Reported loss
- $45.9 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Student loan forgiveness scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-06
The facts, as recorded
- On 11 September 2025 the FTC announced settlements with Eric Caldwell and David Hernandez, operators of Nevada-based Superior Servicing, LLC.
- The FTC alleged the operation took more than $45.9 million from consumers.
- The defendants allegedly pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education or consumers' loan servicers.
- Borrowers were told upfront fees would be applied to their student loan balances; the FTC alleges the defendants were pocketing them.
- Both settling defendants are permanently banned from the debt relief industry; Caldwell is also banned from telemarketing and Hernandez is prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
- The order required a $1.6 million payment and the surrender of approximately $560,000 in personal and business assets, against a partially suspended judgment.
- On 21 July 2026 the FTC announced that a further operator, Dennise Merdjanian, would be permanently banned from debt relief services and telemarketing, under a judgment of more than $45.9 million partially suspended for inability to pay.
- The full judgment becomes due if the defendant materially misrepresents her finances.
Why this case matters
The pitch works because the thing it imitates is real.
Federal student loan forgiveness programmes exist. Income-driven repayment exists. Consolidation exists. They are free, they are administered through the Department of Education and its servicers, and they are genuinely confusing.
Superior Servicing, on the FTC’s allegations, sold the free thing — while claiming to be the institution that provides it.
What was alleged
That the operators pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education or borrowers’ actual loan servicers, promised forgiveness, and charged upfront fees that borrowers were told would be applied to their loan balances.
The fees were not applied to anything. The FTC’s complaint says the defendants were pocketing them.
More than $45.9 million.
The two orders
September 2025. Eric Caldwell and David Hernandez settle. Both are permanently banned from the debt relief industry; Caldwell is additionally banned from telemarketing, Hernandez prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule. They pay $1.6 million and surrender approximately $560,000 in personal and business assets against a partially suspended judgment.
July 2026. Dennise Merdjanian is permanently banned from debt relief services and telemarketing, under a judgment of more than $45.9 million partially suspended for inability to pay — with the full amount becoming due if she materially misrepresents her finances.
What “partially suspended” means, plainly
The court enters a judgment for the full amount and then suspends most of it because the defendant cannot pay. The unsuspended portion is roughly what can actually be collected.
So a $45.9 million case yields about $2.16 million in cash and assets from the September settlement. That is not a failure of the enforcement action; it is what enforcement looks like after the money has been spent. The remedy that actually operates here is the permanent ban.
Which is worth knowing when reading any FTC figure on this site. The headline number is what was taken. The recovered number is much smaller, and the ban is the part that changes anything going forward.
The one rule that ends it
An advance fee for debt relief is illegal in the United States under the Telemarketing Sales Rule — before any question about whether the promises are true.
That is unusually convenient, because it removes the need to evaluate anything. If a company wants payment before your loans have actually been renegotiated, consolidated or reduced, it has already broken a rule, and no assessment of its claims is required.
Sources
- Operators of Student Loan Forgiveness Scam Will Be Permanently Banned from Debt Relief Industry, Ordered to Turn Over Assets. US Federal Trade Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The 11 September 2025 settlements, the defendants and Superior Servicing, the $45.9m, the Department of Education impersonation, the upfront fee allegation, the bans and the monetary terms.
- Student Loan Forgiveness Scammer Permanently Banned from Debt Relief Industry and Telemarketing. US Federal Trade Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The 21 July 2026 order against Dennise Merdjanian, the ban, the partially suspended $45.9m judgment and the misrepresentation clause.