The Center for Public Integrity is out today with its first in a two-part series examining how financial companies charge high fees to the families of prison inmates.
According to its investigation:
In March of last year, the Virginia Department of Corrections informed the families of inmates that JPay Inc., a private company in Florida, would begin handling all deposits into inmates’ accounts.
Depending on how much money is sent, the fee charged families can be as high as 35 percent. In other states, JPay’s fees approach 45 percent.[quote]”To give him $50, I have to send $70 off my card,” says the parent of one inmate in Virginia. “They’re punishing the families, not the inmates.”[/quote]
JPay and other prison bankers collect tens of millions of dollars every year from inmates’ families in fees for basic financial services.
Read the entire story from the Center for Public Integrity.
