Weaponized Regulators: Ransom/Loan Edition

Why would a NGO want to borrow money from me?

Welcome to the latest installment of Weaponized Regulators. This time, in a bizarre new twist, the Ohio Division of Securities wants me to pay quadruple my renewal fee for “membership” (membership allows me to stay in business, so I really have no choice), with the equally strange promise that they’ll refund my large over-payment in January.

Things that make us say, “hmmm…”

Every year I have to cough up a large chunk of money to pay various states in which we do business. There is a delicate and mystifying balancing act required of all of us in Finance to get the approval of various non-Governmental entities (the dreaded three-letter agencies) in order to conduct business. Absolutely everything about this year’s experience has been breathtakingly difficult and very different from prior years.

Recap:
If you’ve been following Weaponized Regulators and/or watched any of the videos interviews of the parade of damaged souls, you can skip this part.
Many of us are busily challenging the narrative of the Left. We’ve been going to school board meetings, attending Boards of Health meetings and Boards of Mental Health, questioning Federal and State funding of what are now generally referred to as “woke” causes and objectives, and advocating for First and Second Amendment Rights.
As you might imagine, these activities are not well received.
For comparison, check out the story of Catherine Engelbrecht, who founded True the Vote and was the subject of all sorts of targeting (IRS examinations, followed by waves of other governmental and non-governmental agency harassment).
Five of us who have become friends over the past few years by fighting back against mask mandates, shot mandates, and the far-Left “woke” content permeating education, are now under assault by our respective Regulators. Here’s how obvious it is: three of us received nearly identical letters from Columbus-based regulators in March of this year alerting us to heightened scrutiny of our businesses. We’re in completely different fields of endeavor - there’s a Child Psychologist, a family construction business, a Lawyer, a Nurse, and I’m in Finance… however, the letters, their destructive impact, their content, and their intent are roughly identical. Two people were told they are under investigation for “complaints,” but are not allowed to know who complained. I was told that there is no complaint against me, that mine was simply an “examination”; however, when questioned about their authority to dig as deep as they are, Ohio Regulators overseeing my business sited Ohio Revised Code that allows them to conduct a much deeper examination if fraud is suspected… yet I have email responses assuring me that fraud is NOT suspected. Strange, circular logic, right? This means that part of their authorization to ask me to go back ten years in my records and to request detailed, non-public information about my clients is based upon laws that require me to provide such detail if I’m suspected of something, but I’m not suspected of anything.
My answer has been to keep publishing each step, which keeps bringing others out who’ve undergone similar things at the hands of Regulators after having shown themselves to be non-Leftist. (See also: UnWoke Investing - defund the “woke” which I run.)

So, on to this installment:
Every year a series of fees are calculated, based upon the number of people, number of clients served, and states’ fees. These are put onto the worst and most bug-riddled website on the planet that is only operational during limited hours (I’m not kidding!) and we have to pay these fees roughly a month before they’re assessed. By this I mean that the money goes into a suspense account for between one and three months and sits there until the states get around to divvying it up.

The fee schedules are published, but complex, and are subject to change. So, most everyone who owns/runs a Financial firm over-pays. I’ve had a small amount of extra cash parked in my suspense account all year; it’s better to have a little extra money parked in the account, doing nothing, than draw the ire of a state or states Regulators. This year; however, is different. Like everything else is different. I did the calculations, rounded up a bit, and over-paid. However, State of Ohio, and now Federal Regulators tell me that I’ll need to put roughly four times my company’s annual dues into the suspense account “immediately” or my company will be marked as “delinquent.” They admit that the money is not needed, and assure me that I can request a refund and get that money back in January, via check.

They periodically send me emails, and they’re able to electronically debit my account, so I assume they have computers. And I assume their computers are capable of mathematics. So why on earth am I to pay quadruple my renewals fees and why are Regulators putting themselves in a position of having to process a check-refund for collecting unnecessary funds? Am I the only one going through this? Will these Regulators spend part of January processing checks for companies all over the country? Or could it be that only select companies that have drawn some political ire are targeted for such nonsense?

Ultimately, if feels quite a bit like some sort of ransom, or zero-interest loan, to agencies that clearly do not need more money! (They have many employees and seem exceptionally well funded, but don’t ever seem to actually do what they’re supposed to do, which is hunt for fraud.)

- Jonathan R. Broadbent