Ex-tribal partner charged in online lending kickback scheme

HELENA — A grand jury has charged a former business partner of Montana's Chippewa Cree Tribe with conspiring with tribal officials to skim millions of dollars from the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation's successful online payday lending company.

Encore Services of Henderson, Nevada, and its president, Zachary Roberts, are accused of taking $3.5 million from the tribe through a fraudulent contract, and kicking back $1.2 million of that money to the officials who made the corrupt deal, federal prosecutors said.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/ex-tribal-partner-charged-in-online-lending-kickback-scheme/article_7189a41b-2535-5953-8459-d5fb780a88ba.html