The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection on Friday announced a settlement with a number of defendants, namely Richard Moseley, Sr., Richard Moseley, Jr., along with a number of entities controlled by the two, related to a payday lending scheme.
Moseley, Sr., was found guilty by a jury last November of conspiracy to collect unlawful debts, the collection of unlawful debts, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is appealing those convictions.
As part of the settlement with the BCFP, all of the defendants are permanently barred from collecting debts, either on their own or through a third party and from withdrawing money from an individual’s bank account without their consent. The defendants were accused of purchasing online payday lending leads from lead generators as a means of gaining access to individuals’ checking accounts. Once the access was obtained, the defendants allegedly illegally deposited payday loans and withdraw fees without the individuals’ consent.
The settlement also extinguishes all debts related to loans originated by the defendants.
A judgment, in the amount of $69.6 million was entered into against the defendants, but most of that was suspended because of their inability to repay the amount, according to the BCFP. Instead, the defendants will pay a civil money penalty of $1 and forfeit $14 million of assets, namely money left in bank accounts in the names of the defendants. When it filed the original complaint against the defendants back in 2014, the bureau announced that the defendants had “made $97.3 million in payday loans and collected $115.4 million from consumers in return.”
