Ex-CEO of company investigated by CFPB sought top position at agency: report

The former CEO of a payday lender that was investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) pitched herself as a candidate for the agency’s director position, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The AP reported that Janet Matricciani, the former CEO of World Acceptance, emailed acting CFPB head Mick Mulvaney two days after the agency announced it had finished the investigation and that Matricciani had resigned. The bureau did not take enforcement action against the company.

“I would love to apply for the position of director of the CFPB. Who better than me understand the need to treat consumers respectfully and honestly, and the equal need to offer credit to lower income consumers in order to help them manage their daily lives?” Matricciani wrote in the, which appears to be addressed to Mulvaney’s personal email, according to the AP.

{mosads}

She also used the agency’s investigation into the company she ran as a qualification for the position.

“I have indepth experience of what a CFPB investigation is like, and so I am in an unparalleled position to understand the effect of various CFPB actions on a company, its workforce, its customers and the industry,” Matricciani reportedly wrote.

She also implied that the two had been in contact before, saying she had “always enjoyed our interactions,” according to the AP.

Mulvaney forwarded the email to his official government account, but AP reported that there’s no evidence he took further action on her request.

A senior adviser to Mulvaney told the AP that Matricciani is not under consideration for any positions at the bureau.

The email was shared with the AP by Allied Progress, a left-leaning group that has called for an investigation into Mulvaney’s actions as acting head. Allied Progress obtained the email through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The CFPB began investigating World Acceptance after a ProPublica report found that it had charged customers higher rates than initially stated and that customers were unable to pay off their debts.

The company had also donated thousands of dollars to Mulvaney’s campaigns while he was a congressman for South Carolina, where World Acceptance is based.

The CFPB said the decision to end the investigation into the company was made by career staff, not Mulvaney.