Joel Tucker, from Kansas City, Missouri, ran into trouble with the IRS after he was caught selling false debt portfolios.
In 2009 Tucker founded eData Solutions, which collected loan application information, known as leads, that he sold to approximately 70 payday lender clients. In 2012 Tucker sold the company to the Wyandotte Indian tribe but kept a file of 7.8 million leads he had acquired. These leads included detailed customer information including: names, addresses, bank accounts, social security numbers and dates of birth. Tucker used this information to create false debt portfolios he then sold to third party debt collectors.
Tucker sold debts he didn’t own, were not true debts, had already been sold to other buyers and contained false lenders, loan dates, loan amounts and payment status.
Tucker did not file tax returns from 2014 to 2016, claiming he had no income and was living on borrowed money from his mother. In reality he used nominee bank accounts to conceal millions of dollars in income and assets and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars, chartered jets, travel, entertainment, and a personal home.
Under his plea agreement Tucker must pay $8,057,079 in restitution to the IRS and faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole.