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Fact #46 The lawTactics

1%of revenue paid to the tribes named as the payday lenders

A payday lender charging up to 700% interest claimed tribal ownership to escape state law, yet the tribes named as lenders received roughly 1% of revenue; the judgment was $1.3 billion.

The operator was convicted on 14 counts in 2017 and sentenced in January 2018 to more than 16 years in prison. The FTC and DOJ later mailed 1,179,803 refund checks totalling more than $505 million.

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Source: Center for Public Integrity · US Federal Trade Commission. Read more: tribal lending scam · case file

Sources

  1. IMPACT: Tribal payday lender sued by Federal Trade Commission. Center for Public Integrity. Accessed 2026-09-29. Supports: The 2003 tribal agreements with the Miami, Modoc and Santee Sioux tribes, the roughly 1% revenue share paid to the tribes, and the loan brand names.
  2. U.S. Court Finds in FTC's Favor and Imposes Record $1.3 Billion Judgment Against Defendants Behind AMG Payday Lending Scheme. US Federal Trade Commission. Accessed 2026-09-29. Supports: The $1.3 billion judgment, the deceptive repeated-withdrawal and finance-fee practices, and the court's rejection of the tribal sovereign-immunity defence.