Professional racecar driver Scott Tucker has been charged in a payday lending operation offering quick cash over the Internet to desperate people.
Authorities said Tucker was arrested Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, on charges in an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York City.
The indictment says Tucker and a lawyer also arrested Wednesday exploited over 4 million people in the United States who were struggling to pay basic living expenses. It says the operation charged interest rates as high as 700 percent or more using deceptive and misleading communications and contracts.
In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission sued Tucker in Nevada over the payday lending operation. The agency has said in court papers that Tucker pocketed at least $420 million unlawfully.
Tucker's lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Reporter Brian Abel went to one of his homes, this one in Leawood, Kansas, to seek comments from Tucker. No one answered.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
