Joel Tucker, who along with his brother Scott, have become infamous names in the payday lending and debt-buying worlds in recent years as their alleged misdeeds have caught up to them, has agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from selling fake debt portfolios and is facing as much as 20 years in prison with no chance for parole.
Joel Tucker, who was indicted in 2018 on 12 counts of interstate transportation of stolen money, two counts of bankruptcy fraud, and one count of falsification of a record in bankruptcy last week pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen money, one count of bankruptcy fraud, and one count of tax evasion. He faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the interstate transportation charge, five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the bankruptcy fraud charge, and five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for tax evasion.
Tucker was accused of operating a number of companies which acted as lead generators for payday lenders. The companies would collect information from individuals and then sell that information to a network of 70 payday lenders. After selling the company and retaining a file of nearly 8 million leads, Tucker began to use that information and instead sell fake portfolios of debt, prosecutors alleged. He would create fake contracts to make it look like he owned the portfolios and then sell them through debt brokers as a means of distancing himself from the transaction.
Tucker has agreed to pay more than $8 million in restitution, which equals the amount he allegedly made in perpetrating the schemes.
