According to the New York Attorney General, before reporting to prison in 2020, Jonathan Braun was a prolific predatory lender, notorious for charging borrowers extreme interest rates and threatening those who fell behind–collecting $77 million in payments from small-business owners via merchant cash advances. In 2019, Braun was sentenced to 10 years in prison in an unrelated marijuana trafficking case, a sentence commuted by President Trump in January 2021.
Last week, in litigation commenced by the New York Attorney General in 2020, a New York trial judge issued a preliminary injunction against Mr. Braun, his agents, and employees from engaging in a variety of lending-related activities.
The New York Attorney General’s press release upon filing the case is available here, and a story on the preliminary injunction here.
