Washington, DC - Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons issued the following statement regarding the Justice Department’s plan to remit more than $500 million to the FTC for consumers who were harmed by a massive payday lending scheme:

“We are very pleased that the Justice Department was able to recover this money in connection with its criminal and civil cases, and that we can help by returning it to consumers,” Simons said.

Last year, the FTC obtained a $1.3 billion civil court judgment in connection with this scheme, in which then-racecar driver Scott A. Tucker and his companies deceived consumers and illegally charged them undisclosed and inflated fees.