On May 1, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved the CFPB’s request for restitution and a civil monetary penalty against a defendant for violations of the CFPA and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The district court awarded a restitution of $2,117,133.28 and imposed a civil monetary penalty of $41,123,897, concluding that the amounts were fully warranted. The defendant also moved to dismiss for want of prosecution given the CFPB’s “effective shutdown”; however, the court rejected that motion, finding “no record of delay or contumacious conduct” on the CFPB’s part.

As previously covered by InfoBytes, the district court sided with the CFPB and ordered the defendant to pay a civil money penalty and consumer restitution in February 2022. More recently, the CFPB asked the court to levy the $43 million in fines against the company owner instead of the company given its insolvency (covered here). Now, the court affirmed the CFPB’s calculation of the civil money penalty, supported by the statute and record evidence, and directed the CFPB to submit a proposed order seeking injunctive and monetary relief by May 8.