21-05-2025
‘Door-to-door' salesman scammed women and their older parents in OR, feds say
An Oregon man accused of scamming women he pursued romantically, and their older parents, can't escape responsibility for his debts, a federal bankruptcy court has ruled.
While selling vacuums, air filters and other items, Jason Gillis, a door-to-door salesman, caused women and their parents to invest in his business ventures but then defrauded them by using their investments 'primarily for personal expenses,' the Justice Department said in a May 19 news release.
He took advantage of one woman's 79-year-old mother, who had recently experienced a stroke, and secretly stole both of the women's identities, amassing debts in their names, according to the Justice Department.
Gills also had the 79-year-old 'take out a mortgage on her home, purportedly under duress,' and he had her hand over more than $100,000, federal prosecutors said. The money went to Gillis' business bank account, but then it was mostly used by him for personal spending, according to federal officials.
Gillis was facing a variety of lawsuits accusing him of fraud, breach of contract and theft by deception, as well as court judgments, when he filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2024, according to the Justice Department.
Now, the bankruptcy court for the District of Oregon has ruled in the favor of the U.S. Trustee Program by refusing to discharge more than $1.7 million in debts on the basis of bankruptcy, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department's U.S. Trustee Program supervises bankruptcy cases and seeks to hold people accused of fraud, like Gillis, accountable to prevent the court system from being abused. The program brought a complaint against Gillis in Portland federal court on Feb. 27, records show.
Gillis is listed as representing himself. His contact information wasn't immediately available.
Gillis 'did not respond to or defend against the USTP's complaint to deny his bankruptcy discharge, leading to a default judgment in the USTP's favor,' officials said in the release.
The U.S. Trustee Program's Portland-based office began investigating Gillis and learned 'that to avoid collection efforts, Gillis concealed his interests in several businesses by transferring nominal ownership to victims while he retained full control and by forging signatures on forms filed with the Oregon Secretary of State,' the Justice Department said.
In his bankruptcy case, he lied about his financial situation and how he defrauded multiple women and their family members, who've tried to collect the debts they are owed, according to the U.S. Trustee Program.
While in a romantic relationship with one woman, he scammed her mother, who was in her 70s, out of a recreational vehicle worth about $150,000, officials said.
He leased the RV from his then-girlfriend's mother and started living in it, according to the Justice Department.
Ultimately, he stopped making lease payments and wouldn't reveal where the RV was located, officials said.
'Bankruptcy is not a safe haven for fraudsters,' Acting U.S. Trustee Jonas V. Anderson for Oregon and four other states said in a statement. 'The U.S. Trustee Program, as the watchdog of the bankruptcy system, is committed to rooting out deceptive schemes that harm innocent victims.'
Anderson, appointed by former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, also oversees Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Washington as acting U.S. trustee for Region 18.
