Federal prosecutors want to seize the luxury Aspen vacation home of racecar driver Scott Tucker, who was indicted this week on charges he exploited millions of people through a payday loan enterprise.
Pitkin County records show the five-bedroom, six-bathroom house at 269 Park Ave. is valued at $8 million.
The home is on a long list of Tucker’s assets that federal officials want forfeited as they seek to confiscate $2 billion he allegedly raised through his loan business.
DOCUMENT: Read the full indictment of U.S. vs Scott Tucker and Timothy Muir
Authorities also seek several of Tucker’s Ferraris, Porsches and a private jet. The Aspen Daily News first reported the Colorado connection to the case.
Prosecutors say Tucker, 53, used the money from his scheme to buy the Aspen home, as well as jewelry, cars and to fund a professional racing team.
Federal agents say Tucker’s payday loan enterprise charged illegal interest rates as high as 700 percent on loans. More than 4.5 million people were exploited by his enterprise, according to the justice department.
Court documents say Tucker offered the loans through the Internet from at least 1997 until 2013.
To defeat lawsuits and avoid civil and criminal liability, Tucker entered sham business relationships with three American Indian tribes, claiming as payday lenders they were protected by “tribal sovereign immunity,” the indictment said. The document added that some state lawsuits targeting his scheme were dismissed on those grounds.
The case was filed in a New York federal court. Authorities say the scheme exploited hundreds of thousands of people in that state.
Tucker, who is from Kansas, was arrested, along with his attorney, Timothy Muir, on Wednesday in Kansas City.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
