SAN ANTONIO — Jose Hernandez's brother-in-law was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018. A friend then told him a company named "Libre by Nexus" could help get this family member out.
Hernandez and his family scraped together nearly $13,000 to pay Libre by Nexus. Almost $3,000 of that went to pay for an ankle monitor. The family then paid another $10,000 over six months as bond collateral payments while Libre by Nexus fronted the money to get Hernandez's family member out.
“I figured we'd give them a call. It worked well. I mean, he was able to come home after being there a few months,” Hernandez said.
His brother-in-law's immigration case was resolved in 2023, and Hernandez was supposed to get his collateral payments back afterwards. He never heard from the company.
When he started trying to contact Libre by Nexus in 2024, he couldn't get anyone on the phone.
"I tried calling every number I could find for Libre by Nexus and none of them worked," Hernandez said.
Finally he called KENS 5.
When KENS 5 started researching Libre by Nexus, however, the website wasn't available and the number was out of service. KENS 5 then found a much larger problem.
Libre by Nexus was the target of a massive lawsuit involving three different states, and the federal government, in which it was accused of deceptive and abusive practices against its customers.
The State of Virginia, the State of New York, the State of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a joint lawsuit in 2021 accusing the company of a litany of offenses.
The lawsuit stated, "Through false and misleading statements and omissions, Libre targets detainees who are desperate to be released."
It said Libre's clients sometimes didn't understand what they were signing and a Libre client with a $10,000 bond, whose immigration case took three years to resolve, could expect to make nonrefundable payments to Libre in excess of $17,000.
The lawsuit also stated, "Libre has repeatedly threatened clients and co-signers that they are at risk of re-arrest, detention, deportation, or other negative outcomes in their immigration case if they fail to pay monthly fees or they remove their GPS device."
The trial ended in April of 2024 when U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon ordered the company and its owners to pay more than $800 million in restitution and fines according to the Washington Post.
The company appealed the decision to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals but the owners also sold the company in the same month. An attorney currently representing one of the owners told KENS 5 the court is now tackling the issue of whether the new owner of the company will even have access to previous client files. If not, it would be almost impossible to process refunds.
KENS 5 reached out to multiple parties in the case to find out if there was a way for Mr. Hernandez to get any money returned to him. The New York State Attorney General's Office suggested he file a complaint with the Federal Consumer Protection Bureau:
"Please tell Mr. Hernandez to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau where they will determine if he is eligible for restitution," a spokesman said via email.
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