Founder Legal History
In 2011, the president of Florida Merchant Services, Jamaar Manlove along with his wife, were charged and later convicted of two felony theft counts and three misdemeanor counts that included falsification of business records and tax evasion in relation to an alleged mortgage fraud scam that targeted distressed homeowners.
Prosecutors alleged that Manlove promised nine people who were facing foreclosure that he would “get them cash from the sale of their homes, allow them to continue to live there as tenants, repair their credit, and give them the opportunity to purchase their homes back.” Instead, he allegedly “strip[ped] out the equity homeowners had built in their properties — from $10,000 to $100,000 — through fees at closing which were paid to either himself, his associates or entities he controlled.”
Our Policy on Fraud Convictions
To date, neither Jamaar Manlove nor Florida Merchant Services appears to have been the subject of any legal actions related to their payment processing services. However, it is the belief of this author and publication that anyone convicted of financial crimes, especially fraud, should not be involved in merchant services or payment processing. Therefore, we have awarded a cautionary rating on this company.
