Asta Funding Announces Management Appointments

    ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Asta Funding,
 Inc., (Nasdaq:   ASFI), a company that acquires, manages, collects and
 services portfolios of distressed consumer receivables for its own account,
 today announced the appointment of Cameron (Bill) Williams to the newly
 created position of Chief Operating Officer and the promotion of Mary
 Curtin to the position of Senior Vice President.
 
     In this new role, Mr. Williams' responsibilities include outsourced
 servicing activities, the acquisition and sale of portfolios, and certain
 support functions -- human resources, portfolio analysis, and process
 management. Prior to joining Asta Funding, Williams spent 40 years in
 finance company operations. He spent the last eight years as the CEO of
 Popular, Inc.'s North American finance company operations. Before his time
 with Popular, he was the Chief Operating Officer of BankAmerica's consumer
 finance company.
 
     Ms. Curtin has spent the last seven years in the capacity of Vice
 President of Operations for Asta Funding, Inc. In her new role she will now
 be involved in the review and acquisition of new portfolios, while
 continuing to oversee the internal collection activities, and the
 management of the associated supporting departments. Prior to joining Asta
 Funding, Mary Curtin spent 10 years in analytical and operational
 capacities within the financial industry.
 
     Gary Stern, Asta's President and CEO, said, "I am pleased to announce
 these new appointments for Asta, which I believe will strengthen our
 management team. Bill's appointment adds depth to our management pool and
 will help us continue to grow the organization while building a necessary
 view to best practices in managing that growth. Mary has been a major
 contributor to Asta's success. Her promotion will enable us to utilize her
 talents in other critical areas of the organization as we execute on our
 strategies."
 
     Based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Asta Funding, Inc., is a consumer
 receivable asset management company that specializes in the purchase,
 management and liquidation of performing and non-performing consumer
 receivables. For additional information, please visit our website at
 http://www.astafunding.com.
 
     Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set
 forth in this news release are "forward-looking" statements (as defined in
 the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.) Although Asta
 Funding, Inc. believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
 statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance
 that its expectations will be realized. Forward-looking statements involve
 certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
 materially from Asta Funding, Inc.'s expectations. Factors that could
 contribute to such differences include those identified in Asta Funding,
 Inc.'s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, and those
 described from time to time in Asta Funding, Inc.'s other filings with the
 Securities and Exchange Commission, news releases and other communications,
 including that the portfolio purchase described in this press release may
 not be consistent with Asta's initial valuation analysis, that the terms of
 the new financing obtained, or the anticipated benefits of the portfolio
 purchase may not meet Asta's expectations, that Asta may experience
 operational difficulties in acquiring a portfolio of this size, that Asta
 received only limited representations and warranties with respect to the
 quality, quantity and characteristics of the portfolio and that there are
 other risks associated with the portfolio. Asta Funding, Inc.'s reports
 with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available free of charge
 through its website at http://www.astafunding.com.
 
 
 

SOURCE Asta Funding, Inc.