On October 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to impose a default judgment, injunctive relief, and a monetary award totaling approximately $366,523,000 against the defendants in an action brought by the CFPB and three states.

As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Bureau and attorneys general from Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia sued two entities and three associated individuals that provided immigration bond products or services for non-English speaking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees. The CFPB et al. alleged the companies engaged in a fraud scheme targeting immigrant consumers held in federal detention between December 2013 and June 2022, and the lower court found the defendants engaged in a pattern of noncompliance with court orders. The CFPB et al. alleged the companies engaged in a fraud scheme targeting immigrant consumers held in federal detention between December 2013 and June 2022, and the lower court found the defendants engaged in a pattern of discovery misconduct and noncompliance with court orders.

The monetary award included restitution to the affected immigrant consumers and civil penalties of $111,135,620 to the Bureau, $7,100,000 to the Commonwealth of Virginia, $3,400,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and $13,890,000 to the State of New York. On appeal, the defendants challenged the default judgment, exclusion of evidence and witnesses, the scope of the permanent injunction, and the calculation of the monetary award, but the appellate court rejected each contention.