Race car driver and payday loan mogul Scott Tucker pleaded not guilty Tuesday to racketeering charges stemming from a federal crackdown on lenders that prey on poor people by charging interest rates that sometimes exceed 700 percent.
Timothy Muir, a lawyer who worked for Tucker, also pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges that include the collection of unlawful debts, using misleading contracts and falsely stating that the businesses were owned and operated by Native American tribes.
If convicted on the most serious charges, Tucker and Muir face as long as 20 years in prison. The U.S. also wants to seize at least $2 billion from Tucker, , a Learjet, six Ferraris and four Porsches, claiming they were bought with proceeds of crime.
Tucker, 53, of Leawood, Kan., helped transform payday lending from local, storefront businesses that gave small-dollar, high-interest loans secured with postdated checks into operations with national reach.
He also pioneered the use of American Indian sovereign tribal immunity to avoid state regulation with one of his affiliates, AMG Services Inc.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Niketh Velamoor said prosecutors expected by next week to finish the turnover of millions of pages of evidence collected during the investigation, including e-mails and banking records, to defense attorneys. A hearing to set a trial date is scheduled for April 22.
Paul Shechtman, a lawyer for Tucker, and Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Muir, both declined to comment after the hearing.
