RELEASE: Bob Stefanowski is Proud of Payday Loan CEO Experience; Failed to to Stop Predatory Practices
Lauren Gray
NEWS RELEASE
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Lauren Gray
Bob Stefanowski is Proud of Payday Loan CEO Experience; Failed to to Stop Predatory Practices
Hartford, CT – In a meeting with The Day’s editorial board this week, Bob Stefanowski reiterated he is proud of his time as CEO at DFC Global, a payday loan company that took advantage of vulnerable people by charging up to 450 percent interest. High-interest loans, like the ones Bob Stefanowski is proud of, are illegal in Connecticut.
“I’m proud of what we did there,” Stefanowski said, according to The Day. “While Stefanowski understands ‘why they’re hitting me on it, because the industry has a bad reputation,’ he said he is ‘proud’ of his time at the company,” The Day writes.
Stefanowski has previously claimed he worked to stop the predatory practices at DFC when he took over. However, under his leadership in 2016 the company took part in an industry-wide effort to fight rules proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Board to crackdown on predatory practices of the payday lending industry. In 2016, at a time when DFC was charging 456 percent interest rates, Bob’s DFC also lobbied against a bill in Hawaii that sought to cap interest rates at 36 percent, saying the legislation would “cause the industry to cease to operate in Hawaii.”
Why is Bob Stefanowski proud of his experience at a payday loan company and why has he lied about trying to stop predatory loan practices? Stefanowski’s history of bad business practices, being proud of predatory lending, wanting to take labor “out at the knees” and his plans to decimate public services proves he is bad for Connecticut and not fit to lead our state.
“Bob Stefanowski’s ‘proud’ history at global payday loan company DFC Global where he took advantage of low-income individuals and families is not the kind of leadership or experience Connecticut needs or wants. Throughout his erratic campaign, Bob Stefanowski has shown voters can’t trust him, and he has no real plans for Connecticut,” Lauren Gray, spokesperson for Connecticut Democrats, said.
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