Legal mind behind Main Line payday lender's empire defends business at trial
Midway through his testimony this week, Wheeler Neff — the Delaware lawyer who federal prosecutors have labeled a co-architect of a business tactic that has enabled payday lenders to dodge government regulations for years — was finally asked the questions he had waited to answer since his indictment last year.
Neff had already explained to jurors how he came to the legal conclusion in 2005 that partnering with American Indian tribes would allow the multimillion-dollar payday loan industry to continue issuing low-dollar, high-interest credit nationwide despite the passage of tougher lending laws in states such as Pennsylvania. He said he had helped several lenders forge their first relationships with tribes across the United States.
“Was it your intent to create an illegal payday lending company?” his attorney, Christopher Warren, finally asked his client nearly eight hours into his testimony. “Was this all a sham?”
Neff responded: “Of course not.”
That answer may prove key to the outcome in a racketeering prosecution that has put the widely adopted tribal lending model and its two chief architects in its crosshairs.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/wheeler-neff-hallinan-payday-lenders-defense-trial-20171109.html