AlterNet: Swimming With the Sharks

Predatory Lending: Swimming With the Sharks

LoanMax's interest rates would make even Tony Soprano green with envy. According to the Justice Department, one underworld crew operated a large-scale loan sharking and bookmaking operation that preyed upon employees of stock brokerage firms. The crew made illegal loans at interest rates of one percent to five percent a week, or the equivalent of a 52 percent to 240 percent APR. This would be a bargain for auto title pawn customers. In fact, the phenomenal growth of legal fringe lenders may be cutting more into Mafia profits than the FBI's anti-racketeering efforts.