FARGO, N.D. (Legal Newsline) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced Intercept Corporation and company executives Bryan Smith and Craig Dresser have been charged with allegedly enabling unauthorized withdrawals from consumer accounts.
Intercept Corporation is a third party payment processor in Fargo. According to the CFPB, Intercept did not do enough to stop clients who were stealing from consumers through unauthorized withdrawals, insufficient funds or invalid or closed accounts.
"Intercept and its executives Bryan Smith and Craig Dresser ignored clear signs of brazen fraud, including illegal withdrawals from consumer accounts, and need to clean up their act,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Companies cannot turn a blind eye to wrongdoing when they process payments from consumer banking accounts on behalf of clients who are breaking the law."
The CFPB alleges Intercept, Smith and Dresser violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by ignoring blatant warning signs of potential fraud and ignoring complaints from banks and consumers.
The CFPB seeks to obtain a court judgment that would put an end to the alleged unlawful practices, obtain relief for consumers and impose penalties on the defendants.