A proposed $22.5 million dollar settlement with Fidelity Bank has been approved.

As part of a class-action against multiple defendants, plaintiffs reached a settlement agreement with Fidelity in July 2020.

The settlement was given final approval on February 26th. Later that same day Fidelity Bank and John Merril were dismissed as defendants.

An article published by the WBJ reveals that ‘a significant portion of those costs will be covered by the bank’s insurance.’

Derek Beahn, Fidelity’s senior vice president and director of marketing, said a significant portion of the settlement was covered by the bank’s insurance, but declined to clarify how much, noting that Fidelity ”still finished 2020 profitable and well-capitalized.”

The Fidelity is the fourth settlement reached in the TelexFree class-action. It follows settlements of

  • $1.75 million with Base Commerce (then known as Phoenix Payments), John Hughes, Brian Bonfiglio, John Kirchhefer and Alex Sidel (processor used to launder TelexFree funds);
  • $425,000 with Synovus Bank (bank used to launder TelexFree funds); and
  • $100,000 with Joseph Craft and Craft Financial Solutions (TelexFree’s accountant)

Looking forward, on February 19th class-action plaintiffs filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction against Dustin Sparman and Vantage Payments.

As I understand it participation in the TelexFree class-action does not interfere with the TelexFree Trustee claims process.

I am not a lawyer though and you should absolutely seek legal advice if you have any legal questions pertaining to the class-action.