Maslon attorneys proudly assisted First Premier Bank in obtaining summary judgment dismissal of a putative class action in the Eastern District of New York—affirmed on appeal at the Second Circuit—resolving more than a decade of litigation and defeating the plaintiff's claim of putative class damages of more than $100 million. 

Beginning in 2013, a group of payday loan borrowers filed lawsuits against various financial institutions, including First Premier Bank, in federal courts around the country. In Moss v. First Premier Bank, the plaintiff alleged that now-convicted payday lender Scott Tucker colluded with several of his corporate entities to provide payday loans at illegal interest rates by claiming their business was owned and operated by Native American tribes, when, in fact, those relationships were a sham.

The borrower argued that since her loan was debited through the ACH electronic payment system, the participants in the ACH system, including our ODFI (Originating Depository Financial Institution) client, were part of a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act) conspiracy to collect unlawful debt.

"In discovery, we were able to show that our client had never communicated with the Tucker lenders, did not have a contract with the Tucker lenders, and was never paid money by the Tucker lenders," said Maslon Partner Bryan Freeman. "The evidence showed that the Tucker lenders had never even heard of First Premier Bank. So one of our leading arguments to the court was you can't have a conspiratorial agreement to engage in racketeering, and the required meeting of the minds, if the alleged conspirator never communicated with or had dealings with any of the alleged racketeers."

The district court agreed, and additionally found that the plaintiff failed to prove First Premier Bank had actual knowledge of the illegal racketeering activity, granting Maslon's motion for summary judgment and dismissing the case on Aug. 2, 2024. The plaintiff subsequently appealed to the Second Circuit, which affirmed the lower court's summary-judgment ruling on June 24, 2025. Plaintiff's motion for rehearing to the Second Circuit was denied.

The summary judgment decision can be found at Moss v. First Premier Bank, No. 13-cv-5438, 2024 WL 4274764 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 2024). The Second Circuit decision is at Moss v. First Premier Bank, No. 24-2449, 2025 WL 1742018 (2d Cir. June 25, 2025).

Bryan Freeman led the Maslon team defending First Premier Bank in both federal district court and on appeal, with substantial assistance from attorneys Judah Druck and Jim Long. Others team members included attorneys Erica Holzer, Jeremy Krahn, Nate Ajouri, Stephanie Laws, Anna Barton, Carly Johnson, Jevon Bindman, and Steve Schleicher, as well as paralegal Valerie Wolfe.