Criminal probe into tribal lender includes Nevada partners

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – A criminal investigation into the former leaders of the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s online lending operations now includes a Nevada company the tribe partnered with in its first attempt to offer payday loans.

The tribe and the leaders of that company, Henderson-based Encore Services LLC, formed First American Capital Resources in 2010. That lending company never succeeded and was overtaken by a second company called Plain Green.

The tribe is now suing Encore and its leaders, Zachary Roberts, Richard Lee Broome, Gordon Jones and Martin Mazzara over $13 million the tribe says they owe.

Roberts, Broome and Mazzara this week asked a federal judge to put that civil case on hold because they are the subjects of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office over the lending company.