Joel Tucker, brother of payday-loan magnate, told to report to jail

A bankruptcy court judge in Houston has ordered Joel Tucker, brother of payday-lending magnate Scott Tucker, to report to jail.

In March, the judge, Marvin Isgur, ordered Tucker to provide information about allegedly fraudulent payday loan claims. Tucker asked to be released from federal custody so that he could locate the relevant documents.

Isgur has decided that Tucker is playing games. In ordering Tucker to surrender to federal authorities, Isgur says Tucker has led the court down “useless paths.” In today’s ruling, Isgur writes:

Mr. Tucker was given a full opportunity to produce the documents before he was taken into custody. He was temporarily released from custody and given the opportunity to produce the documents. The Court has no doubt that Mr. Tucker has both knowledge of and access to the required documents. Mr. Tucker’s temporary release did not result in the production of the documents.

The ruling suggests that Tucker has tried to create records out of thin air. A court-appointed forensic examiner reported that a spreadsheet purporting to list the loans in question was created after the court proceeding had begun and shortly before Tucker was scheduled to retrieve data while being monitored by a third party.

Tucker had told the court the data was stored on computers owned by Safelock PC, which is based in Waldo. The forensic examiner contacted a Safelock PC store manager. In a voicemail, the Safelock PC store manager told the examiner that Tucker had came into the office in April — the same month he accessed the data under supervision — and “used an old computer which was subsequently tossed into a dumpster.” (Isgur’s ruling notes that the forensic examiner’s report has not been subject to cross examination.)

Isgur has ordered Tucker to surrender to the United States Marshal’s Office in Houston by July 29.