Settlement
By Bank of America on Uber
Overdraft Fees For $22M Gets SDNY Approval Comparative
Abuse
By Matthew
Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
February 4 – While both the
scale and belated scrutiny of
predatory practices by large
banks is for now somewhat
reduced, in the shadow both
still continues. Take for
example the settlement by Bank
of America approved by Judge
Alison J.
Nathan of the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York on
January 31. BofA
will pay $22 million to
resolve a class action by
customers alleging it
improperly charged overdraft
fees on debit card
transactions made with Uber
Technologies Inc.
Nicoletta Pantelyat sued Bank
of America for breaching its
contractual obligations to
consumers by charging
overdraft fees on
non-recurring debit card
transactions made with Uber.
Of the $22 million, class
counsel get $5.5
million. As recited
in Judge Nathan's
order, " On
July 25, 2018,
consumer
protection
offices of the
Attorneys
General of the
States of New
York, Arizona,
Iowa,
Massachusetts,
Mississippi,
Nebraska, New
Mexico,
Pennsylvania,
Oregon, Rhode
island, and
Washington
filed a letter
with the Court
expressing
concern that
the proposed
settlement
purported to
release Uber
from liability
despite its
third-party
status... The
Attorneys
General's
objection does
not warrant
modification
of the final
settlement, as
the law of
this Circuit
permits
third-party
releases under
the
circumstances
presented
here." Ipsi
dixit for
Uber? The
case was, or
is, Pantelyat
v. Bank of
America, N.A.
et al,
1:16-cv-08964-AJN.
On
February 1, a dubious
settlement of predatory
lending claims by the US
Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau is coming for approval
to the US District Court for
the Southern District of New
York.
The facts of that
case are extreme: a lender
pretending to be based
off-shore in Malta charging
interest rates of 700%. But
CFPB is settling out the case
with no penalties, no
restitution, nothing - and
asking the SDNY to sign off on
it. Will it? The
case is No. 15cv5211 (CM)(RWL)
of which the CFPB says "The
proposed settlement covers NDG
Financial Corp., E-Care
Contact Centers, Ltd.,
Blizzard Interactive Corp.,
New World Consolidated Lending
Corp., New World Lenders
Corp., Payroll Loans First
Lenders Corp., New World RRSP
Lenders Corp., Northway
Financial Corp., Ltd., and
Northway Broker, Ltd and
corporate officials Kimberly
DeThomas, Jeremy Sabourin, and
William Wrixon. The defendants
were not fined."
These days
Inner City Press is covering a
range of cases in the SDNY.
Not only Michael
Cohen, and the back to
back UN bribery cases of Ng
Lap Seng then Patrick
Ho, but also this week's
sentencings for the NYPD's guns
for cash scandal (18
months in prison) and
conspiracy to commit arson in
The Bronx (28 months, see
below). So what is system
predatory lending worth?
Doesn't it, too, ravage
communities? Compare and
contrast... A Bronx man who
pled guilty to conspiracy
leading to the burning down of
a convenience store in the
Bronx on 11 September 2016 was
sentenced to 28 months in
prison on February 1 by Judge
William H. Pauley III in the
US District Court for the
Southern District of New York.
Arson and
The Bronx were for a time
synonymous, though few of the
perpetrators were caught much
less sentenced. Times have
changed. Present at Friday
afternoon's sentencing on the
20th floor of the Daniel
Patrick Moynihan U.S.
Courthouse were only the
defendant Richard Sanchez and
his lawyer, a lone prosecutor,
three family members and Inner
City Press. Yet the tale was
heartbreaking, in its way.
Sanchez'
lawyer Patrick Brackley
recounted that he had prior
run-ins with the law, citing
an incident with a dirt bike.
But, he said, Sanchez had used
his time out free on bail to
re-build his life. Sanchez
himself read what he called an
open letter to Judge Pawley,
speaking about his ten year
old daughter, a business he
was starting and his brand.
Judge Pauley said he took note
of these but found it
inexplicable that someone
would, for $500, agree to find
people to burn down a store in
their own neighborhood.
Sanchez was contracted by the
owner of one deli to burn
down a nearly-open
competitor; both stores were
across the street from where
Sanchez lived. Judge Pauley
told Sanchez he was lucky no
one had been injured or
killed, alluding to the felony
murder rule which would have
held Sanchez liable.
While the prosecution via
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam
S. Hobson sought a sentence of
from 46 to 57 months, Pauley
imposed 28 months in prison to
be followed by three years of
supervised release, at a
prison as near to New York
City as possible.
Restitution of $50,000 was
ordered, and the same standard
$100 mandatory special
assessment that SDNY Judge
Edgar Ramos had imposed the
day before on former NYPD
Lieutenant Paul Dean for his
admitted role in gun permits
for cash scam (see Inner City
Press' story here).
That
sentencing drew a gaggle; that
of Richard Sanchez for his
role in the arson of a store
in the Bronx did not. Pauley
said to his mostly empty
courtroom, The public must
understand that people can't
be going around burning down
stores in their own
neighborhood.
The case: United
States v. Richard Sanchez,
18 Cr. 26 (WHP)
Upcoming in the
SDNY is a just-filed complaint
by the Bangladesh Central Bank
for the $81 million hacking of
its funds, which were then
wired through the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, a case
that Inner City Press will
cover. Times change. Watch
this site.
***
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