A man from Prairie Village, Kansas, was sentenced today in federal court for his role in two distinct fraud schemes involving millions of dollars in bogus payday loan debt and more than $8 million in tax evasion use your car as collateral.( https://deathmilitia.com/how-to-apply-for-a-200-loan-from-zaxloans-with-instant-approval/ )
Web of lies
Acting U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore said, “After earning millions of dollars from the victims of his fraudulent activity, the accused blatantly lied and utilized every tactic in the book to disguise his ill-gotten money from the IRS.” “For more than a decade, he hasn’t willingly paid a cent in taxes owing, despite lavishing on jet flights and fancy cars.” To add insult to injury, he even secured a government loan under the Paycheck Protection Program after defrauding US taxpayers for so long.”
U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark sentenced Joel Jerome Tucker, 52, to 12 years and a half in federal prison without the possibility of parole. Tucker was also ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service $8,057,079 in restitution and forfeit $5,000 to the government, which is the number of stolen proceeds moved over state lines as specified in the specific offense to which he pleaded guilty.
“Tucker deceived thousands of innocent people victims and the United States government for his gain,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Hensle. Tucker opted to live a luxury lifestyle at the expense of working Americans, while most people fight to make a decent living and live the American dream. The FBI will keep pursuing and prosecute those who exploit others for personal gain and believe they are above the law.”
“Tucker lived a luxury lifestyle and defrauded the American people with the proceeds of his illicit enterprise.” “His sentencing demonstrates that the courts treat tax and associated fraud schemes seriously,” said Amanda Prestegard, IRS-Criminal Investigation’s St. Louis Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge. “The IRS-CI actively investigates and exposes complex financial crimes to stop the criminal behavior that has an impact on the United States’ tax system.”
Selling clients details
Tucker worked as a payday loan servicer for several corporations. Tucker’s business names changed throughout time, but his major business was eData Solutions, LLC. eData, which was originally registered on July 29, 2009, did not directly provide loans to borrowers; instead, it gathered loan application details, known as leads, and sold those leads to its roughly 70 payday lender clients. eData also provides software to payday lenders as a loan servicer.
In 2012, Tucker and the other eData owners sold the company to the Wyandotte Indian tribe. Despite selling his stake in eData, Tucker kept a file of 7.8 million leads he had obtained from the company, which included specific consumer details (including addresses, names, bank accounts, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, etc.). eData had gathered thorough consumer information from online payday loan applications or inquiries to its payday lender clients; nevertheless, the file did not represent actual loans. Tucker also got and kept data on defaulted payday loans that eData had collected from a variety of payday lender clients. Tucker fabricated debt portfolios using these files.
Tucker pleaded guilty on July 16, 2020, to one count of moving stolen money over state lines as part of a debt fraud scheme, as well as one count of bankruptcy fraud and one count of tax evasion. Tucker also allegedly engaged in another fraud scheme, which was not charged as part of this case, by falsely getting payments under the Payroll Protection Program, according to court records.
Debt-Collection Scam
Tucker was guilty of defrauding people out of money from 2014 till 2016. Marketing, distributing, and selling fictitious debt portfolios were all part of this operation. Through the selling of fabricated debt portfolios, Tucker scammed third-party debt collectors as well as millions of individuals identified as debtors.
Tucker offered fictitious loans that he didn’t personally own, weren’t actual debts, had all been supplied to other buyers, and featured bogus lenders, loan dates, loan amounts, and payment status. Some of the “debtors” had only applied for a loan and were never approved, either because they canceled their application or because the credit was not financed.
Some of the mentioned debtors, on the other hand, paid the debt collectors because they were afraid or unsure of what they owed. In just 2 years, from 2014 to early 2016, Tucker gained up to $7.3 million through the selling of fictitious loan portfolios.
Tucker moved the proceeds of his fraud plan over state borders as part of his fraud scam.
Fraudulent Bankruptcy Scheme
Tucker also stated that in 2015 and 2016, he carried out a comparable bankruptcy fraud plan. Tucker also sold bogus debt that was filed in United States Bankruptcy Courts across the country as part of his bankruptcy fraud scam. Tucker frequently lied under oath by presenting false information and testimony to the United States Bankruptcy Court when the Bankruptcy Court investigated these alleged debts, which were filed as claims in bankruptcy proceedings, to conceal his scam.
Evasion of taxes
Tucker owed tax deficiencies from 2007 to 2008, according to a ruling issued by the United States Tax Court on April 15, 2014. In 2014, the entire debt, including interest and penalties, was $8,057,079.95. Tucker and his firms did not submit federal tax returns with the Irs for the years 2014 through 2016. Tucker now owes about 12 million dollars in taxes, interest, and penalties from 2007 to 2014, according to court filings. Tucker has never made any voluntary payments toward his tax burden, according to court filings.
Tucker admitted to IRS officials that he had no source of income and was relying on borrowed funds, including a large sum from his mother. Tucker sent money to his mother rather than borrowing money from her, according to bank records. Tucker hid his income and assets by using nominee bank accounts and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal living costs like cars, chartered aircraft, entertainment, and a private house.
Tucker, for example, leased a $1.59 million home in Prairie Village, purchased a $105,367 Cadillac Escalade, paid $226,000 for private charter jet services, spent over $75,000 to rent a Ferrd a Porsche, spent $17,536 at The Arrabelle, a hotel in Vail, Colorado, paid $50,000 to Vail Mountain Club, paid a total of $682,437 in American Express payments, and made nearly $200,000 in cash withdrawals.
Theft from the Paycheck Protection Program
Tucker illegally secured a PPP loan a month before filing a guilty plea to financial crimes, according to court documents, by denying that he was under indictment.
Tucker applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from the Small Business Administration on June 13, 2020. Tucker was first charged on June 5, 2018. On May 21, 2019, a superseding indictment was issued. As a result, Tucker had been under federal indictment for two years when he applied for the PPP loan. “Is the Applicant (if an individual)…subject to an indictment, criminal information, arraignment, or other means by which formal criminal charges are brought in any jurisdiction, or is the Applicant presently incarcerated, or on probation or parole?” asks Question 5 of the application. “If questions (5) or (6) are answered ‘Yes,’ the loan will not be granted,” the loan application document states immediately before this question. (original emphasis) Tucker said no and signed the application online.
Tucker’s loan request for $20,833 was accepted due to his fake attestation, and he got the monies on June 16, 2020.
Even though Tucker has not been prosecuted criminally in connection with the illegal loan, the court judged his acts to be important in deciding his punishment today.
Assistant US Attorneys Kathleen D. Mahoney and Patrick D. Daly prosecuted this case. The FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the United States Bankruptcy Trustee in the Southern District of Texas all looked into it.