If it’s too good to be true, most likely…it probably is. Social media has brought the world’s underbelly to the surface with the countless number of entrepreneurial doppelgängers and posers cyphering their latest schemes of illusions.
They rotate the same unchallenging business models, be it an up-and-coming fashion boutique, beauty service, slimming teas and pill empire, 200-page self-published books, real estate agencies or the big one, credit repair management. Granted that there are some legit businesses in these fields that are hard-earned, properly certified and degreed, there’s also been an emergence of copycats searching for get-rich-quick schemes that wander into illegal territory.
Case in point, Roekeicha Brisby checked off all the boxes of a legitimate business with her company Rose Credit Services. Her social media and Internet presence contained the signature millennial professional look and all the convincing motivational gab that is familiar on the Instagrams and Tik Toks.
She even had the accolades to stand on, allegedly eliminating nearly $1 million worth of debt for 27 customers. Ordinarily, that would be an accomplishment for any credit management business, except that the 29-year-old is now facing felony charges for falsifying identifying information, including police reports in what is being called a credit repair scheme.
Hailing from the outskirts of the Houston Metropolitan area in Humble, Texas, Brisby is accused of altering loss and stolen credit card police reports from Harris County Precinct 4 with fake case numbers. About 133 falsified reports were given to financial institutions, causing them to respond by forgiving the debts per the stolen or loss card claims. The customers’ credit scores would rise after the elimination of the debt.
One of the institutions that she submitted false police reports to became suspicious and contacted Precinct 4 to verify the information. The inquiry ultimately led to Brisby’s arrest. After further investigation, it was discovered that Brisby had used a legitimate police report from Valerie Cobio, an identity theft victim who came to her for credit repair services. She duplicated the report several times over for each new client.
For Cobio, she admits that Brisby’s social media testimonies of success was convincing, but looks can be deceiving.
“She was always posting everywhere on social media, Instagram, Tik Tok on how well she was doing with people’s numbers, and I wasn’t one of them,” Cobio said. “It’s just a really ugly feeling to get a phone call or to get an email or have an officer show up at your door to let you know that the person you thought was legit is screwing you over.”
“I did some reading up on this lady yesterday on some of the things she says,” Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said at a press conference. “I noticed a lot, that she’s clearly had a troubled past and she’s trying to get on the right track — she says she is — and you see what she’s alleged of, and it’s kind of like a leopard never changes its spots.”
Brisby faces 5-99 years in prison if found guilty and is also facing another case for injury to a child.
