Court seeks billions from payday lender

A federal judge appears likely to enter a forfeiture order of $3.5 billion against convicted felon Scott Tucker of Leawood, Kan., as part of his sentence for his illegal payday lending scheme.

A preliminary order entered late Tuesday by U.S. District Court of Southern New York Judge Kevin Castel indicates $3.5 billion represents the gross proceeds Tucker’s payday lending businesses made from 2008 to 2013. A final order is expected later this year.

Tucker was convicted in October of several criminal charges related to a payday lending enterprise that charged exorbitant interest rates and duped consumers with deceptive loan terms. Tucker was the most prominent among several Kansas City businessmen, where payday lending is big business for both lenders and investors for those operations, who made millions from illegal lending enterprises. Some of them have been pursued by regulatory and criminal authorities.

A letter by Tucker attorney, Lee Ginsberg, to Castel indicated that he did not object to much of the forfeiture order, but wanted a chance to discuss with Tucker whether they may make a few objections.

Tucker has been in transit between U.S. Bureau of Prisons facilities, first in a detention center in Brooklyn and subsequently in Philadelphia where he has started serving a 16-year, 8month prison sentence for his crimes.

Tucker is appealing his sentence and conviction.