BALTIMORE — Spencer Fell spent 16 years at Maryland 529 rising to the ranks of a customer service supervisor.
Today, he decided to speak out after hearing of the issues parents looking to get their money are having.
“To treat the customer like this and cheat them out of the benefits that have been in the disclosure statements from 1998 to 2021 is beyond unfair," said Fell.
The battle is over interest payments.
Parents put the money in nearly two decades ago looking for financial returns.
They saw those large returns in their statements at the end of 2021.
Then Maryland 529 said it was a calculating error and took them away.
“I would never had worked a day at this program if I thought there was even a one percent chance of something like this happening," said Fell.
Brian Savoie, one of the parents at the forefront of this fight, estimates it would take $3-500 million to make these parents whole.
It’s unclear if Maryland 529 has the money showed in the accounts this time last year or not.
“However now, based on all these shady and sudden changes i’m honestly not sure," said Fell.
Maryland 529 has stuck to the claim that this was a calculating error and that the money shown in accounts now is correct, without the massive interest payments parents expect.
In a statement on Thursday, 529 said the current account balances are being corrected, some have been done manually but that they’re accurate.
Lawmakers in Annapolis are looking into the issue but while one side says the issue is nearing a resolution, the other says it’s not over.
