A federal worker on the verge of retirement is fighting to get her money back.
Helen Jacques paid a consultant $3,000 to secure disability benefits. Eighteen months, two police reports and one small claims court lawsuit later, Jacques is tired of waiting.
“He promised me disability — my social security, food stamps, all the good stuff,” she said. “Everything [I needed] to hear to [give him money].”
Ronald W. Shephard is the face of RW Shephard Consulting, LLC. The company helps clients retire, according to its website and Instagram page.
“That’s the man [who] came to my house,” Jacques said, referring to a photo of Shephard online.
Jacques, 62, said Shephard did not help her at all. Jacques said she battles thyroid problems and panic attacks in the wake of her daughter’s death. So, Jacques plans to retire as soon as she secures disability benefits.
That desire drove her to call Shephard.
“He’s been doing this for 30-plus years and he’s well-known,” she said. “So I just went with it.”
RW Shephard Consulting, LLC’s website promotes its service as a “full retirement expert” helping clients with disability claims for 42 years. Another part of the website said 34 years. Last month, the same website said the company has been serving clients for 33 years.
None of those figures match state records.
The RW Shephard’s incorporation documents show Ronald Shephard’s signature on the articles of incorporation in 1995. RW Shephard Consulting LLC is inactive according to Florida Secretary of State records online. RW Shephard Consulting LLC dissolved almost 30 years ago because its officers failed to file an annual report, according to state records online.
Still, RW Shephard’s website said it is “BBB Rated A.” However, the Better Business Bureau’s website said RW Shephard Consulting “…is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.”
On Instagram, Shephard offers help in “any state.”
Last May, Jacques met him in her driveway, she said.
There, he gave her a contract that offered COBRA insurance, food stamps and OPM disability benefits, Jacques said. “OPM” stands for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which functions like human resources for Jacques and her colleagues.
For the services outlined in the contract, Shephard charged $3,000.
Shephard asked for cash payment and drove Jacques to an ATM to get the money, Jacques said.
“I gave it to him in cash,” she said.
Shephard gave Jacques a receipt and she believed it was a good deal. Two weeks later, Jacques became suspicious.
“All the stuff he promised me never came up,” Jacques said. “[I] kept on calling. It’s always an answering service, and ‘Oh, I’m going to call you back,’ and all this other stuff.”
CBS News Miami Investigates tried to speak with Shephard. However, the address listed on his expired LLC is a private residence where no one answered the door. Also, the address and suite listed on his website is a P.O. Box inside a U.S. Post Office in Miami.
Shephard did answer his phone and allowed CBS News Miami Investigates to record the conversation.
“We did the work for [Jacques],” Shephard said on the phone when asked if he planned to deliver benefits to Jacques. “She [is] the one who stopped us from doing the work. We were not finished with the work. She stopped the work.”
Jacques said Shephard offered a partial refund earlier this year. When CBS News Miami Investigates asked Shephard about that on the phone, the call disconnected.
Minutes later, Shephard fired off text messages. He claimed that Jacques “breached the contract” and “kept changing the date over 15 times.”
“We came to her job, did the work, met with her supervisors and managers, worked with [the] VA [and] OPM on her retirement,” Shephard said in text messages to CBS News Miami Investigates.
Shephard also shared a screen grab of emails that he said prove he filed disability paperwork for Jacques.
“I have many emails to and from them [and] also from OPM,” Shephard said in text messages. “You will find out we did nothing wrong.”
CBS News Miami Investigates contacted both the VA Hospital and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The VA had no comment. The VA does have an online database of accredited representatives who help workers file claims or request decision reviews.
Neither RW Shephard Consulting, LLC, Ronald W Shephard or E-Static Stimulus System, Inc. — another LLC in Shephard’s name — is in the database.
OPM responded with a statement: “OPM retirement services does not work directly with private companies to process benefits on behalf of our annuitants.”
CBS News Miami Investigates shared those words with Shephard, asked for comment and if he planned to refund Jacques under the “guaranteed fee return” clause in Jacques’ contract. Shepard did not respond.
“He lied to me,” Jacques said.
She filed two complaints with the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office. However, Jacques just wants her money back and the sheriff’s office considers the case a civil matter, an MDSO spokesperson said.
Jacques filed a small claims complaint seeking to recover her money from Shephard in Miami-Dade County’s civil court. The case is still open.
In a text message to CBS News Miami Investigates, Shephard said, “We welcome any small claims suit.”
“She was gonna get half on the 1st (of November),” Shephard said in text messages. “We will wait for court. Do not contact us again.”
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