Tribe-Linked Payday Lender Settles Usury Suit for $141 Million

An online payday lending company owned by an Oklahoma American Indian tribe and others will pay $65 million and forgive $76 million in high-interest loans under the terms of a class action settlement given preliminary approval by the Eastern District of Virginia.

The settlement with American Web Loan Inc. will resolve allegations by more than 576,000 settlement class members geographically dispersed throughout the U.S., according to the memorandum in support of the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval.

The borrowers allege they were victims of an “unlawful, predatory online lending scheme” charging “extortionately high interest rates,” as high as 726.13%, for ...