United States of America v. Joseph F. Wallace

Spartanburg, South Carolina, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with credit card fraud.

Digested by Kent Morlan

Joseph F. Wallace, 51, of Duncan, South Carolina, marketed himself as “a self-made serial entrepreneur leading multiple business entities and living the American Dream in Upstate, South Carolina.” He owned and operated YMA Financial through which he offered various services such as credit repair, business planning, and establishment of business credit. Beginning in late 2022, Wallace overextended himself in his pursuit of other business endeavors and he needed substantial infusions of cash to pay back previous clients. This precarious financial situation led Wallace to make misrepresentations to new clients and to withhold material information.

Wallace would direct clients to obtain various credit cards in aid of establishing the clients’ business credit. To ensure the clients qualified for the new cards, Wallace often directed them to provide false information to the credit card companies. The clients followed the instructions without questioning him because of his claimed expertise and involvement in community organizations.

Wallace would then obtain large cash advances on the new credit cards and the clients’ existing credit cards. (Some of the advances were made with the clients’ permission, others were not.) Wallace explained to clients that he would pay off the newly acquired balances within 30 days. By paying off the advances promptly, Wallace told clients that this would demonstrate to creditors the clients’ trustworthiness and thus boost their credit scores and borrowing potential. However, when the credit card bills came due, Wallace did not pay the balances in full as he had promised. Often Wallace would pay the minimum due or nothing at all. He provided the victims with multiple excuses. The victims later learned that Wallace had used the credit card advances to pay other debts or to make purchases for other businesses.

In total, Wallace stole more than $971,051.44 from the affected clients.

The Defendant was found guilty by a jury.