we learned that sal payne's past in the mortgage business includes accusations of fraud.ody is saying he did anything wrong in the cleanup in new york. but it raises questions about how cities pick contractors for dangerous work. duarte geraldino has the story. >> reporter: sal payne is the face of the company hired to decontaminate the new york city ebola. >> the city has put pre-emptive measures before, and right before, we got a call saying be on stand by. >> reporter: buzz feed and the "new york times" cast a shadow on payne the headlines: according to the times new york attorney general alerted city officials about payne's legal problems early last week. years before he became one of the central players in new york city's ebola response he was known as salvatore payne spelled p-a-n-e. and on investigation reveals that two companies he ran violated new york consumer protection laws. payne's company routinely collected illegal up front fees from home owners, and then failed to lower their monthly payments as promised. payne acknowledged his past legal problems in a pho

sal payne denied misrepresenting himself. he refused an on camera interview t. zz ed's stories slanderous and replete with misstatements, lice and outright falsehoods. new york city is look nook payne's latest claims. he has not been charged with any crimes. how does one guy con so many people? >> he comes across as persuasive, even in our sort of brief discussions with him, he is very persuasive at times and can be very charming, too. >> reporter: and that's how you think he got people? >> i think that's how he had to be a part of it. >> making misleading statements, sal payne exists saying when speaking of professional experience, he was speaking for the company, not himself. in reality, there is nothing illegal about that. >> we were saying it is always surprising to me somebody has a murky past would be so front and center on tv talking. >> it's interesting, he changed the spelling of his last name. i think that's why he went a little under the radar for a little bit. nobody knew he was the same person. >> he's not under the radar now. thanks very much. laure

. >> sal payne was the face for cleaning up ebola. >> anywhere, anyone willing to give him oxygen, helking up his experience, claiming he and his company were the right folks to do the job. >> his company, bio-recovery corporation, had decades of experience. it was tapped by new york city to decontaminate craig spencer's apartment and the brooklyn bowling alley he visiteded. >> this is exactly what we do. >> an investigation found sal payne had only been cleaning up hazardous waste for one year. reporter alex campbell learned pane, a convicted felon, got into the industry by convincing an unsuspected sister to sell her brother's business, a well-regarded cleaning company. she says she was duped. so the company exists, he just was never a part of it? >> exactly. bio-recovery corporation up until 2013 was owned by somebody completely different. >> payne has been at the center of controversy before. back in 2008, during the height of the financial crisis, he started two loan modification companies. they were a scam and new york state sued him. payne was held liable for more than $12.5 mi