Seek Capital and CEO are Permanently Banned from Providing Business Financing, Other Services to Settle FTC Allegations

Seek Capital and its CEO have been permanently banned from providing business financing, debt relief and credit repair services to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the firm deceived entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking business funding.

In November 2024, the FTC filed a complaint, alleging that California-based Seek Capital and its founder and CEO, Roy Ferman, targeted new and aspiring small business owners looking for loans or lines of credit to open or grow their businesses. The company's advertising promised it would leverage so-called "special relationships" with lenders to get business owners access to cash with no interest due for extended periods. Instead, Seek Capital charged clients thousands of dollars simply to open credit cards, often without the promised 0% interest terms, which cost business owners millions while harming their credit scores, the FTC alleged. Seek Capital also advertised that it would charge no upfront fees, despite levying hefty charges when consumers tried to cancel.

"Instead of offering businesses the financing they sought, Seek Capital took advantage of them and often left them in worse shape," said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Companies should be on notice that the FTC will take action to protect small businesses and entrepreneurs from deceptive claims and other unlawful conduct."

In September, a federal court granted most of the FTC's request for summary judgmentagainst Seek Capital and Ferman, including finding that they misrepresented that they:

• have relationships with lenders,
• offer credit cards with 'line of credit capability,'
• offer specific favorable financing terms, like zero percent APR,
• charge no fees until the customer receives funding, and that
• using their services will not harm customers' credit scores.

The court found that these misrepresentations violated both the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The court also found that the company's contracts violated the Consumer Review Fairness Act by preventing consumers from posting negative reviews about the company. Finally, the court found Ferman personally liable for the company's law violations.

Subsequently, the FTC obtained a final order that imposes a monetary judgment against Seek Capital and Ferman of $48,280,328, which is suspended in part due to their inability to pay the full amount. The full amount will be due if they are found to have made misrepresentations about their finances.

The final order also permanently bans Seek Capital and Ferman from:

• Marketing, promoting or offering credit, loans or other business financing, debt relief services, or credit repair services;
• Making misrepresentations including related to their business affiliations, impact on consumers' credit scores and upfront fees;
• Billing consumers without obtaining and documenting consumers' expressed informed consent;
• Violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule; and
• Prohibiting or restricting consumer reviews of their products or services.

The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 3-0. The FTC filed the proposed orderin the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The Court entered the final order on October 1, 2025.

The lead attorneys on this matter are Maya Sequeira, Katherine Worthman, Julia Heald, and Sally Tieu in the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.