SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – A payday lender being sued by the federal government for trying to use the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's sovereign status as a shield to conduct illegal financial dealings now also faces a federal civil class-action lawsuit.
Pierre lawyer Wade Fischer filed the lawsuit last week. The Argus Leader newspaper reports that it lists plaintiffs from various states who received loans from Martin Webb's companies in the past two years that charged higher-than-allowed interest rates. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Webb is owner and president of Timber Lake-based Payday Financial. He already faced a Federal Trade Commission complaint in addition to lawsuits filed by state officials in Colorado, West Virginia, Maryland and Washington.
Webb contends the tribe has exclusive jurisdiction over his company's loan contracts.