I wrote a blog post last fall about Minto Money, a company allegedly organized under the laws of the Native Village of Minto and headquartered at “205 Lakeview Drive, Suite 7, Minto, Alaska.”

As one of numerous lawsuits against Minto Money says, there is a tribal building at that address with no suites or numbers. The company claims it is not subject to state law, but to tribal law.

Minto Money claims it is not subject to state regulation or state law. It license is signed by Nebraska Lawyer Shane Thin Elk, who is listed as the commissioner of the “Minto Financial Services Licensing & Regulatory Commission.”

“First time Minto Money customers typically qualify for an installment loan of up to $1,000 with an APR of 690%,” the company says in a hard-to-find footnote on its website.

A lawyer from Nebraska named Shane Thin Elk, who identifies himself as commissioner of the Minto Financial Services Licensing & Regulatory Commission, issued what appears to be the only two commission licenses—to run consumer lending business named Minto Money and Birch Lending.

I was glad to see that Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News and two ProPublica reporters have now completed a thorough investigation of Minto Money, finding that the enterprise is linked to the son of TV’s Dr. Phil—Jay McGraw.

Here is the full report, a great example of investigative journalism.

The payday loan industry preys on poor people. This ADN/ProPublica investigation assembles all the facts needed, in my opinion, as to why Minto should sever its ties with these operations, even though it is collecting millions.

“ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News obtained documents for Minto Money showing dramatic growth, from $2 million in annual revenue in 2020 to nearly $7 million in 2022. A former tribal lending manager for the operation, Cameron Winfrey, said that in 2024 that figure reached $12 million for all its lending operations,” they wrote.

A federal lawsuit filed last year claims that the Minto tribe is “merely a front,” that the loans are not made in Alaska and that the tribe doesn’t own the company at all. It collects a 2 percent fee for the use of its name.

“The suit alleged that McGraw and the other defendants, including Minto Money, violated state usury laws and federal prohibitions against collecting unlawful debt. A confidential settlement resolved the lawsuit in early May but left open the possibility that other Minto Money customers could file similar suits in the future,” the reporters wrote.

“In 2018, Doug Isaacson, a non-tribal member working for Minto’s economic development arm, brought Minto an idea that could help the village. Isaacson— the former mayor of North Pole, a city outside Fairbanks that revels in its association with Christmas — suggested that the tribe get involved in the lending business. Tribes in America are in demand as business partners because they can claim that, as sovereign entities, their operations are exempt from state interest rate caps. Critics of such lending partnerships have called them ‘rent-a-tribe,’” the reporters wrote.

“In a 2023 email obtained by reporters, Isaacson wrote, “Lawsuits are the cost of doing business these days.” He noted that “in no century have money lenders ever been revered, but they have always been essential.” (Isaacson told reporters he no longer works on tribal lending operations and could not comment.)”

“The Minto tribe’s business entities have been sued in federal court by consumers at least 17 times. The tribe has argued that arbitration agreements signed by borrowers, as well as tribal sovereign immunity, protect the businesses from lawsuits. In at least one suit, it expressly denied the characterization of Minto Money as a ‘rent-a-tribe’ operation.”

There is much more detail in their report.

In addition to Minto Money, the tribe supplies its name to Birch Lending, which also lends money at excessive rates and claims to be God’s gift to people who need money.

“Our company, Birch Lending, is a tribal lending entity owned by a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Birch Lending offers loans to people in a time of need, even those who don’t have good credit. We are a Federally Recognized Sovereign Indian Tribe, and we want to help with those unexpected events or difficult financial situations,” Birch Lending says on its website, which claims the company’s mailing address is Box 58020, Minto, Alaska.

“Tribal loans are very helpful for those who need cash immediately but cannot pay it off quickly. Customers pay off their loans in installments rather than paying off the loan with their next paycheck. Tribal loans are an expensive form of borrowing and are intended to be a short-term financial resource,” Birch Lending tells potential customers.

“Expensive” is not the right word for the extreme interest rates the company charges.

The ADN/ProPublica report says that the states in which Minto Money and Birch Lending do not make loans are mainly those where state officials have taken steps to protect consumers.

The companies do not make loans in Alaska. I don’t know if that is because they would be illegal under state law or if because it would be terrible PR for Minto to be involved in any way with 700 percent interest rate loans in Alaska.

I don’t know if the recent bill approved by the Legislature to cap payday loan interest rates at 36 percent will have a direct bearing on these companies because of the repeated claims that state law does not apply.

In April, the Massachusetts Division of Banks advised consumers to avoid payday loans from tribal vendors, including Minto Money and Birch Lending. Good advice for every state.

Regarding pay loans in Alaska, many “come with interest rates that average 421% in Alaska, according to the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, and frequently trap borrowers in cycles of debt,” sponsor Sen. Forrest Dunbar said, Alaska Public Media reported.

Regardless of their decision to currently not make loans in Alaska, the nationwide operations of Minto Money and Birch Lending are excellent reasons to encourage Dunleavy to sign SB 39 into law.

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Dr. Phil's son cashes in on 700 percent interest rate loans from enterprises linked to Minto