Wisconsin Watch
In bankruptcy filings and consumer complaints, thousands of people across the country make pleas for relief from high-interest loans with punishing annual rates that often exceed 600%.
Although they borrowed small sums online from a slew of businesses with catchy names — such as Loan at Last or Sky Trail Cash — their loans stemmed from the same massive operation owned by a small Native American tribe in a remote part of Wisconsin.
Over the past decade, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has grown to become a prominent player in the tribal lending industry, generating far-reaching impact and leaving a legacy of economic despair. A ProPublica analysis found companies owned by the LDF tribe showed up as a creditor in roughly 1 out of every 100 bankruptcy cases sampled nationwide. More
The scammers told the Indians they had “sovereign immunity” from banking laws so they made their reservation available for a nationwide predatory lending scheme. The courts ruled otherwise last month and forced the tribe to settle over a billion dollars in loan obligations and to pay out $2 million of a $34.7 in restitution to victims. More
In case you were wondering, this is the same band of Indians who are still blocking access across their tribal land to a number of homeowners in northern Wisconsin. Here
The town of Lac du Flambeau has been paying the tribe a monthly access fee, but the payment demands go up $2,000 a month. Here
The town missed its payment last month and the controversy is heating up again as winter approaches for another year of standoff.
Neither a lender nor a borrower be.
I relate that to; strong fences make good neighbors.
I don’t know the author of either quote, but it wasn’t me.
If you feel all weepy and sympathetic, here’s a 4 min refresher:
https://youtu.be/iVqQosyOpg4?si=PuH8BuOP_3I4UAKN
What about Billions in fines for Congressional ripoffs of Taxpayers?
Send them some blankets.
The Indian tribes are not sovereign nations and should be subject to all laws of the United States. Any other solution is racial bias. While we’re at it, close down all their damn casinos!
Just proves the Indian tribes aren’t and weren’t all innocent victims.
They can be thanked for std’s the Europeans never knew before and many tribes had thriving slave trades.
Just like every other population, there are good and bad.
White man’s money not worth what it was. In 1626 $24.00 dollars of trinkets and beads now worth 5 billion thanks to some White Irish Jackass!
Me want more wampum. Me want more whiskey.
Wikipedia says there are roughly 3,400 people enrolled with this band of Chippewa. The article says they have been responsible for one out of every 100 bankruptcy filings over the past decade. Say what you will but that’s a lot of impact for a small group of people from the wilds of Northern Wisconsin