Scott Tucker (businessman)

In 1991, Tucker was convicted of three felony charges, including mail fraud and making false statements to a bank. One of the charges stemmed from a bogus lending company Tucker ran called Chase, Morgan, Stearns & Lloyd that charged businesses advanced fees for loans that were never delivered. He was imprisoned for a year at Leavenworth federal prison.[7]

Tucker was CEO of AMG Services, a payday loan company that was found to charge undisclosed and inflated fees and used tribal entities in an attempt to violate state lending laws.[8][9]

In April 2012, the Federal Trade Commission filed a civil suit against AMG Services, Scott Tucker and others alleging that AMG engaged in illegal business tactics.[10] In May 2014, a U.S. grand jury subpoenaed AMG Services as part of a criminal probe conducted by the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, reportedly looking at possible violations of statutes covering wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering.[11]

In September 2016, a federal district judge ordered Tucker and other defendants to pay a record judgment of $1.266 billion for "deceiving consumers across the country and illegally charging them undisclosed and inflated fees".[9] Tucker was also banned from the consumer-lending business. In January 2015, AMG Services and MNE Services Inc. agreed to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission by paying a $21 million fine as well as waiving an additional $285 million in charges that were assessed but not collected.[12][13]

In February 2016, Tucker was indicted and arrested for various criminal violations under RICO and TILA statutes for acts related to his involvement in a number of payday lending operations.[14] On October 13, 2017, Tucker was convicted of 14 counts, including making illegal payday loans and racketeering.[15]

Tucker was indicted in December 2017 for filing a false tax return. The US Attorney for Kansas alleges that Tucker created a sham sale of his payday loan business to the Miami Indian tribe of Oklahoma for $120,000 while he continued to control the business. The indictment alleges Tucker failed to report more than $117.5 million in income in 2009 and 2010. Tucker's tax accountant was also indicted.[16]

Tucker is estimated to have earned $380 million from his payday loan organization, which exploited Native American sovereign immunity laws as a loophole through which to offer payday loans in states in which they are illegal. Operating under names including Ameriloan, Cash Advance, One Click Cash, United Cash Loans, and 500 FastCash, Tucker's organization employed approximately 600 people and made loans with terms that included renewals and fees, as well as interest rates as high as 700% per year. The majority of these loans were issued to low-income individuals.[17]

Blaine and Joel Tucker, his brothers, were also involved in payday lending and faced criminal charges for their activities. Blaine Tucker committed suicide in 2014, while Joel Tucker received a $4 million civil penalty from the Federal Trade Commission for selling fake payday loan portfolios to debt collectors.[17][18] In July 2020, Joel agreed to plead guilty to interstate transportation of stolen money, bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion. He faced possible sentences of five and ten years on the three charges after the agreement.[19]

Scott Tucker's organizations ceased operation after he and his lawyer Timothy Muir were indicted in federal court in Manhattan. They were convicted on 14 counts of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and Truth In Lending Act offenses on October 13, 2017.[17][18][1]

In September 2018 the Federal Trade Commission began issuing almost 1.2 million checks totaling more than $505 million to victims of Tucker's payday lending scheme. The money comes from a $1.3 billion civil court judgment the FTC obtained against Tucker and his AMG Services Inc.[20] However, on petition to the United States Supreme Court in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, the Court ruled unanimously in April 2021 that the FTC did not have the authority under Congress to seek equitable relief, and reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision.[21]

Tucker is serving a sentence of 16 years 8 months, and his lawyer Tim Muir is serving a sentence of 7 years.[1] Tucker's inmate number is 06133-045 and he is scheduled for release from prison on March 4, 2032.[22]

Tucker used money from his illegally operated payday lending business to fund his exploits as an amateur race car driver and team owner.[23][24]

Rolex Sports Car Series

Scott Tucker in a Ferrari Crawford GT

Scott Tucker began competing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in a partial season during the year 2007. In 2008, Scott Tucker debuted in the Rolex 24 at Daytona driving a TRG Grand-Am GT Porsche in the Rolex Series driving with Ed Zabinski, Jack Baldwin, Martin Ragginger and Claudio Burton. The team finished 28th in class due to an engine failure in the 20th hour of the event. After the Rolex 24, Tucker entered Level 5 Motorsports in 3 additional races with Ed Zabinski in the Rolex Series.[25]

In 2009, he teamed up with French sports car driver Christophe Bouchut and earned a career best finish of third at Watkins Glen International.

Tucker with co-drivers Richard Westbrook, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Lucas Luhr at Daytona

Tucker drove both cars at Homestead-Miami Speedway, teaming up with Bouchut in the No. 55 car. In 2010, Tucker added four-time Champ Car World Series champion Sébastien Bourdais, Richard Westbrook, Sascha Maassen, Lucas Luhr, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Emmanuel Collard to his team for the 48th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Tucker and Level 5's progress through the race was part of a documentary entitled Daytona Dream.[26] The documentary was produced by Drive Digital Media, a venture Scott Tucker was an investor in.[27]

Tucker grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and went to Rockhurst High School.[36] He studied business administration at Kansas State University. Tucker is married to his wife Kim and has two daughters.[8]

Tucker's illegal activities are chronicled in the 2018 episode "Payday", of the Netflix documentary series Dirty Money.[37]

Tucker's payday loan scheme was also profiled in the 2020 episode "The Fast and the Fraudulent", of the television series American Greed.[38]