Did Debtmerica’s Founder Jesse Stockwell make his Wealth on the backs of Mexican-Americans?

Jesse Stockwell, whose given name is Jesse Enos Torres, IV, used to go by by Jesse E. Torres IV. Now he’s changed his name to Jesse E. Stockwell, but also uses Jesse Stockwell without the middle initial. A lot of names. Why?

Updated: March 24, 2015

Breaking News Story: Optima Tax Relief/Jesse Stockwell: And The Spin Goes On

We wanted to verify Jesse’s listed résumé point by point. He claims, on his website jessestockwell.com, to be an expert in Internet marketing. Our research did prove that Jesse, Debtmerica and now Optima Tax Relief and LoanNow, were experts in making sure that only positive customer reviews showed up about Debtmerica, Optima Tax Relief, LoanNow and Jesse while negative ones quickly disappeared. Details available here. Our conclusion was, when Jesse changed his name, he appears to have invented a whole new Jesse. Jesse also seems to have a very high opinion of himself according to, well, himself, as well as a very low opinion of women. Here are Jesse’s words he put to script:

LinkedIn: “I could write a long embellishment about my accomplishments and goals…, Oh, please don’t try to connect if you want to sell me leads…” See it here.

E-Mail to Dad: “make the business plan your utmost priority, not a woman. They can be bought and sold later…” See it here.

That’s a little insight to Jesse Stockwell’s inner self.

Graduate of the Wharton School of Business: Jesse Stockwell, known then as Jesse E. Torres IV, is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. Allegedly, his mother’s boyfriend’s brother (that’s a mouthful), who was the head of Wharton’s Alumni Association, called in a few favors and got Jesse, who had previously been rejected, a late admission to Wharton.

Falsifying Federal Documents: There are also allegations that Jesse and his mother, then known as Joanne L. Torres (aka Joanne Stockwell), committed perjury on his Federal College Loan Applications. The Federal Money he received as a grant apparently minimized Jesse’s Student Loan obligation. We have found no evidence that the suspect funds received by Jesse and his mother, Joanne L. Torres (Joanne Stockwell), were ever repaid, nor charges filed.

Assaulting a Police Officer: Jesse changed his name to his mother’s maiden name of Stockwell. Jesse is said to take after his mother who was arrested and charged for assaulting a Police Officer in the Falmouth Police station. Yes that’s what we said, in the Falmouth Police Station! Joanne is said, in a Cape Cod Times story, to have jumped on the cop’s back assaulting him.  This, in addition to the above charges of committing perjury on federal documents, would not qualify Joanne for mother of the year, but maybe Ma Barker? No wonder that several postings from former employees seem to demonstrate the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Invitation: The information on the Federal loans came from an interview with Jesse’s father, with whom Jesse Stockwell and Debtmerica are currently involved in a lawsuit. If Jesse Stockwell (aka Jesse E. Torres IV, Jesse E. Stockwell) or his mother Joanne L. Stockwell (aka Joanne L. Torres, Joanne L. Torres-Stockwell, Joanne Stockwell-Torres) can provide us with Jesse’s loan applications, and those applications reveal that the claims made here were false, we would immediately publish a retraction and publish those facts.

Jesse’s Businesses Past and Present:

1. 2001 – Coins That Care, LLC; DBA National Medallions, LLC: Formed to exploit 9/11. His father stated that Jesse told him that it was forced to close due to; lawsuits from N.Y. Firefighters Association, and/or the Firefighters Widows, for copyright and trademark infringement, and those filed by business creditors. Details here. Same open invitation to discredit these facts stands here as well.
2. 2002 – J.E. Torres & Co., Inc: The business charter filed with the California Secretary of State lists the business type of the company as “Domestic Stocks“. It was closed within one month of the corporation being formed. Why? Details here.
3. 2002 – 2006/2008 – Lendingpoint Mortgage: Primary product was sub-prime/junk mortgages.  Suspended on December 2, 2006 by the California Secretary of State, and then dissolved in 2008. Main markets appear to be California and Nevada with their large populations of Mexican-Americans. Details here.
4. 2004 – National Debt Free Foundation, LLC: Incorporated July 15, 2004, its status is currently “Canceled”. Its Business Description is listed as “Debt Settlement” and was located in Santa Ana, CA. It appears that National Debt Free Foundation may have been a dry-run for their following company, Debtmerica, LLC, located in Santa Ana, CA as well. You decide.Details here.
5. 2006 – Present – Debtmerica, LLC: Website claims that they are a “Debt Consolidation Alternative”, based in Santa Ana California. Once again, in an area with a large Mexican-American population. The lawsuits and Government investigations against Debtmerica range from the Attorney General of the State of New York to R.I.C.O. charges filed in a lawsuit filed by the father of Debtmerica, LLC’s founder, listed as Jesse Stockwell. Details here.
6. 2011 – Present – Optima Tax Relief LLC: Website claims to be a tax relief company of the same type the IRS issued a warning on, pointing out how these types of companies use radio and television advertisements to lure in vulnerable and unsuspecting victims. Have you heard Alan Thicke on radio and TV pitching Optima Tax Relief? Please see our story and why even Fox Business News aired a special entitled, “Don’t Become a Victim of a Tax-Relief Scam“. Need we say more?
7. 2010 – Present – LoanNow LLC: Website claims to be a friendly loan company for those in need. The reality is that they charge up to 189% interest. In our day that was called Vig! Even the loan sharks of old stand in awe on how Jesse Stockwell can get away with this. Please do yourself a favor and read our story about this company. How bad is it? Using their loan example of a $2500 loan paid back over 12 months, you borrow $2500 and you pay back $11,901.25. That’s $9,401.25 in interest! See for yourself.
8. 2013 – SuperMoney LLC: Ever look at any of Jesse Stockwell’s websites? You will notice an overwhelming number of 5 star reviews. At least until now that is, where a flood of real reviews are showing up from the masses. People appear to be rising up, screaming at the top of their lungs, warning others about Jesse. It is our opinion, an opinion based on the testimony of former employees, that SuperMoney’s 5 star reviews are coming from the then current employees of Jesse. SuperMoney is the flagship of and Jesse’s propaganda machine. Check it out for yourself here: The supermoney.com website: The Spin machine?.

Where’s the money going? Taken from Jesse Stockwells’s own blog, jessestockwell.com, (not the NOT Jesse Stockwell site, jessestockwell.net), here is a list of where, at least Jesse Stockwell, is salting away those millions he’s made from the above companies. Here is the list of the latest companies Jesse crows about being an investor in, and adviser to:

1. Evolve Vacation Rental Network – Would you rent a house from this young man?
2. * byUs – a platform for trusted recommendations – Their next spin machine?
3. Doctor Evidence – Medical Advice? Wait, is it tied to the medical payments?

* The byus.com link that Jesse Stockwell provided on his website was invalid.
We finally located the byUs website where Jesse Stockwell is listed as investor. Our link is valid.

The full story of Debtmerica, LLC’s managing partner, Jesse Stockwell, as well as his associated companies, is available here. Note that the story contains links to the sites used in our research. The complaint containing the R.I.C.O. charges is available here.

The Mexican Connection

After long and very detailed research, as well as an interview with the founder and Managing Partner Jesse Stockwell’s father, Jesse E. Torres III, we have come to the opinion that Jesse Stockwell made much of the fortune he claims to have accumulated, by exploiting the lower-income, and very proud nature of the Mexican-American community. Again, this is solely our opinion as Debtmerica has not published the statistics on how many of their clients have a Mexican Heritage, and as such, we used Federal and State demographics to form our opinion as well as the fact that Jesse Stockwell changed his last name from Torres to Stockwell. The following is our logic in forming this opinion:

1. Jesse Stockwell, then Jesse E. Torres IV, ignoring his father’s warnings, moved in with a cousin, James Kimberly Torres, in Descanco California. James was a convicted, incarcerated felon and known drug dealer who distributed drugs from Mexico to the United States. James died of a gunshot wound to the head.
2. Jesse Stockwell’s own words, as shown above, make it easy to conclude that having money is far more important to him than how he makes it, or apparently, even whose misery he has to exploit to get it.
3. Jesse Stockwell allegedly told his father that he did commit perjury on Federal Documents with his mother, did settle with the New York attorney General for $200,000, did violate federal copyright and license laws when he used pictures owned by the N.Y. Firefighters and their widows when he exploited the 9/11 tragedy for his own benefit and did have Civil R.I.C.O. charges filed in a complaint against him by his own father.
4. He formed Lendingpoint Mortgage, LLC, as Jesse E. Torres IV. Lendingpoint Mortgage specialized in sub-prime or “junk-mortgages”. Jesse’s father stated that, when he offered to refer clients with the means and credit rating to buy million dollar homes, his son said, “No thanks Dad, the big commissions are in the junk mortgages…”, “it’s not my problem if they won’t be able to pay down the road”. To be fair, this was a sentiment that was shared by many other self-proclaimed financial tycoons at the time.
5. Jesse Stockwell, who is one half Portuguese on his father’s side, changed his last name from Torres to Stockwell. Why?

Targeting Mexican-Americans?

Once again, the following is solely our opinion when putting together the facts disclosed above.
After the lawsuits and collection attempts closed his company “Coins That Care, LLC”, Jesse Stockwell, (aka Jesse E. Torres IV, Jesse E. Stockwell) was mentally exhausted and financially ruined.

Jesse had worked for a Mortgage Broker back in the 90s, on Cape Cod Massachusetts. We believe this experience in the Mortgage business aided him when he moved to California in 2000 and saw an opportunity between the high-commissions offered by sub-prime or junk mortgages and the hard-working community around him of Mexican-Americans who dreamed of some day sharing the American Dream and becoming a home owner. As home prices continued to rise to their highest in history, that dream was outside what most Mexican-Americans believed they could ever achieve.

It appears that Jesse, like the rest of the sub-prime/junk-mortgage brokers, sold the dream. Of note, we find it nearly impossible to believe a Wharton Business School Graduate didn’t know and anticipate what would happen to his clients. The well-publicized method used to induce people into, “getting a piece of the dream”, was the enticement of small, affordable first year mortgage payments, with the claim that the home would increase in value so fast that they could sell it before the mortgage payment became way beyond their means. We all know the result of these promises and enticements. Were Debtmerica and Jesse selling the American Dream, or taking advantage of people who trusted him and his Wharton Degree he loves to boast about? Those degrees are all over their websites.

While it is well publicized that the actions of Debtmerica and Jesse, as well as others in their once dirty business, almost put the United States into bankruptcy, what should also be remembered is the pain of so many Mexican-Americans who lost their homes and were devastated financially by those who exploited their dreams. While we are strong supporters of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), we believe that there is a major ethical difference between selling and scamming, and these sub-prime/junk mortgage brokers should have been, at minimum, forced to return their ill-gotten financial gains.

After the resulting closure of most sub-prime/junk-mortgage companies of which Jesse Stockwell’s company, Lendingpoint Mortgage, LLC, was one, we believe the timelines support that Jesse, after a short period, came up with his idea for Debtmerica LLC, a firm whose website states is a “Debt Consolidation Alternative”.

What makes the timing between the closing of Lendingpoint Mortgage and the opening of Debtmerica, LLC particularly questionable, and if true, utterly despicable in our opinion, would be if Jesse, with access to the records of so many former Lendingpoint clients firmly in hand, would have a ready client base for his new company, Debtmerica. This client base, already deeply in debt from the very mortgages Jesse sold to them, would be ripe for a way to repair their ruined credit. Again, this is pure speculation on our part, but based on the same facts before you. You decide.

About everyone knows of the legendary pride of Mexican-Americans; did it offer Jesse Stockwell  a second bite at the apple? Check out the Debtmerica’s Espanol Website and Jesse’s LinkedIn page where he states he has “Full professional proficiency” in Spanish. Again, all circumstantial speculation based on the same facts before you. You decide.

There is no question that Debtmerica must have made a significant part of the money from which Jesse benefit based on his acquisitions on record. These benefits include his reported trips to Russia, Viet Nam and other rarely visited countries (we noted that many were countries with limited or no extradition treaties with the U.S.) Jesse’s LinkedIn page also lists him as having newly acquired language skills in Russian. And then there are the exotic trips like Safaris in Africa. We have to say, if money was their “goal at any cost”, he made it.

Why did Jesse E. Torres IV change his name to Jesse Stockwell and/or Jesse E. Stockwell? Our best guess is, after seeing the results associated with the name, “Jesse E. Torres IV”, when conducting a search, (search now), that the facts of the case were an embarrassment to him, one that may have outweighed the benefit of having a last name “Torres” (which ironically is Portuguese) with potential Mexican-American clients. He now uses his mother’s maiden name, Stockwell.

Jesse Stockwell, according to his website jessestockwell.com, is a self professed expert in Internet marketing. See for yourself how bad postings about Jesse or any of his associated companies quickly disappear and why research shows that their numerous positive postings seem to have a similar pattern and style.  See our story on Debtmerica’s Managing Partner, Jesse Stockwell available here for more information and sources.

Google: Jesse E. Stockwell, Jesse E. Torres IV

The Political impact of Debtmerica, LLC: See the politics of Debtmerica, stories that examine the how and why Debtmerica settled with the Attorney General of the State of New York. Paying a reported $200,000 in restitution to their N.Y. Clients, and costs to the A.G. Visit:

• obamamuscles.com

A personal note from Jesse Stockwell’s Dad: Let me start with, I love my son, but I cannot stand by while he continues to make his wealth in industry after industry shut down by the Federal Government for, basically, predatory business practices. Please search this and the uswatchdogs.net websites and form your own conclusions. Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware).

Jesse’s Dad

More related stories of Jesse Stockwell in the News

• Optima Tax Relief / Jesse Stockwell: And The Spin Goes On
• Does Debtmerica’s Founder Jesse Stockwell really feel women are commodities to be bought and sold?
• Debtmerica’s Founder Jesse Stockwell Is the Defendant Jesse E. Torres IV
• Get To Know Defendant Debtmerica’s Managing Partner

Disclaimer: optimataxrelief.biz is not associated with Optima Tax Relief, LLC., their associated websites, or their Managing Partner, Jesse Stockwell. The Optima Tax Relief LLC website is located at optimataxreleif.com.