Man Accused in Credit Scam Held

The president of a Costa Mesa company that allegedly operated a credit card offer scam that bilked 1,200 consumers is being held in Maui, Hawaii, after being arrested on an Orange County warrant, police said.

Hubert Allen Jeffreys, 25, who was traced to Hawaii through telephone records, was arrested Tuesday at a beachfront home on a felony warrant that charges him with conspiracy and grand theft. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, Costa Mesa Police Detective Steve Labbitt said.

Jeffreys was president of Americorp Unlimited, a telephone solicitation firm that offered cards to consumers with good credit for a flat $198. The cards allegedly had a $5,000 credit limit, no annual fees and a low 10.8% interest rate.

Labbitt said the offer seemed legitimate but not so generous as to sound too good to be true. Consumers complained to police when they did not receive cards. Labbitt estimated that the scam netted the company about $200,000 before it was shut down.