Wonga face police probe after bogus law firm letter scandal
PAYDAY loan firm Wonga may now face a police investigation into its bogus legal letters scandal.
Officers are considering criminal proceedings against the firm which this week agreed to pay £2.6million compensation to affected customers.
Wonga wrote letters to 45,000 people in arrears from non-existent law firms threatening legal action if they did not pay up, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
The City regulator said it did not pass the matter to criminal prosecutors because it did not want further delays.
But in a statement the City of London Police said: “Now that the regulator’s investigation has concluded...we will be reassessing whether a criminal investigation is now appropriate.”
Our focus is on compensating customers
The Law Society, which represents around 160,000 solicitors across England and Wales, has asked the Met Police to investigate Wonga and wants the FCA to hand over copies of its investigation.
Chief executive of The Law Society, Desmond Hudson, said he believed Wonga wanted customers to believe their debt had been passed to a genuine law firm.
“It looks like they also wanted customers to believe that court action undertaken by a genuine law firm would follow if the debt was not repaid.”
A spokesman for Wonga said: “Our focus is on compensating customers.”