TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Jan. 12 that her office has coordinated with Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) Commissioner Drew Breakspear on settlements with the operators of an alleged online lending scheme.
The defendants in the case are Western Sky Financial LLC, CashCall Inc., WS Funding LLC, Delbert Services Corporation and John Paul Reddam, who is president, CEO, owner and director of CashCall.
“Lending schemes harm consumers seeking financial assistance and, with these settlements, Florida borrowers will be better protected from such business practices,” Bondi said. “Thanks to a great partnership with the Office of Financial Regulation, Floridians will receive millions in restitution.”
As per the settlement agreements, an $11 million fund has been set up and roughly 14,000 borrowers will be eligible for cash payments from this fund.
The defendants also paid $1.25 million to Florida, including a $500,000 civil penalty to Bondi’s office, a $500,000 administrative fine to OFR and $250,000 in costs to the state of Florida.
“I applaud the diligent efforts of our agency’s Division of Consumer Finance investigative team and the Florida Attorney General’s Office to protect Floridians from illegal business practices,” Breakspear said. “Ensuring the financial industry is safe for consumers to do business is a top priority.”