Brazil's public prosecutor's office, the MPF, has filed a lawsuit against Agiplan Financeira SA over allegations of abusive charges in its payroll loans and lack of transparency with its clients.
In a statement, the MPF said it is suing the company for alleged practices such as the automatic retention of current account balances of retirees, pensioners and people with low income, under the pretext that payroll loan installments would be in arrears.
Banco Central do Brasil and the national consumer secretariat are also defendants in the case due to their failure to supervise the company's operations, the MPF said.
According to complaints against Agiplan Financeira, the company has allegedly imposed excessive interest and charges for irregular tariffs and noncontracted products. It also supposedly refused to provide information about loan terms and some clients have reported that they ran out of resources due to deductions from the company, according to the plaintiff.
The MPF is asking Agiplan Financeira to determine measures within 30 days to avoid repeating these practices. It also demands that the company provides its clients a copy of loan agreements with a breakdown of the lending terms.
At the end of the process, the MPF said it will ask the company to pay compensation and repay any charges it considers illegal.
Agiplan Financeira is owned by Agipar Holding Financeiras SA, which is also the parent of Banco Agibank SA.
