Cash-Advance Tycoon Arrested on Gun Charge Amid FBI, SEC Probes

(Bloomberg) -- Joseph LaForte, who until recently ran one of the country’s largest cash-advance firms, was arrested on a firearms possession charge as he also faces federal criminal and civil probes into his lending company.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which conducted searches of various locations connected to LaForte’s operation last week, confirmed his arrest Friday in Haverford, Pennsylvania. LaForte, 49, is being held pending a hearing next week in federal court in Philadelphia. His lawyer, Michael Engle, declined to comment.

Over the past decade, LaForte built Complete Business Solutions Group Inc., which does business as Par Funding, into a leading player in the largely unregulated merchant cash advance industry. Cash-advance lenders offer short-term loans charging interest rates as high as 400% to small businesses.

The FBI searches last week took place the same day that a court-appointed receiver took over Par at the request of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, which is suing the company and LaForte for securities fraud.

LaForte wasn’t allowed to possess the weapons, which included several pistols and shotguns, because of his earlier felony convictions, the indictment states. LaForte served time for a real-estate scam and an illegal gambling operation prior to starting Par.

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