RIGHT SPEAK: Outrage Over NYC’s Migrant Debit Card Handouts That Could Net NJ Company $1.8M in Profits: ‘Taxpayers are getting fleeced’ ; Navigating the Controversy: NYC's $53M Migrant Aid Deal with MoCaFi Raises Eyebrows

Outrage over NYC’s migrant debit card handouts that could net NJ company $1.8M in profits: ‘Taxpayers are getting fleeced’:

The New Jersey start-up that snagged a controversial no-bid $53 million contract with New York City to give migrants prepaid debit cards could net a whopping $1.8 million in profits by taking a cut of the funds doled out to asylum seekers, The Post has learned.

The one-year deal signed by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and tech finance company Mobility Capital Finance — first reported by The Post last month — is now raising eyebrows with some members of the City Council, who noted the agreement didn’t undergo the usual competitive bidding process.

“Something’s wrong with this deal, and taxpayers are getting fleeced,” Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens) said Thursday when provided with details of the contract.

“These no-bid emergency contracts and profit-driven bids are out of control, and we need to reevaluate how we do business as a city,” he added.

The contract appears to guarantee a windfall for the Newark, NJ firm known as MoCaFi — founded by ex-JP Morgan Chase banker Wole Coaxum about a decade ago — possibly netting it three times more than it pocketed under a similar, but much larger, deal with Los Angeles.

Under the Big Apple deal, MoCaFi will collect 3% of the first $50 million in taxpayer funds that get loaded onto the prepaid cards the city plans on handing out to newly arrived families of asylum seekers to help them pay for food and baby supplies while being housed in temporary shelters.

If an additional $100 million are disbursed, MoCaFi would garner a 2.5% profit, followed by 2% for anything beyond $150 million, according to the contract obtained by The Post.

That means the company stands to pocket some $1.6 million, should City Hall expand the pilot program of 500 families to the second phase of 6,500 families.

That’s on top of the $125,000 start-up fee and $250,000 annual “management and customer support fee” the company will pocket, according to the contract. --->READ MORE HERE

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Navigating the Controversy: NYC's $53M Migrant Aid Deal with MoCaFi Raises Eyebrows:

Discover the uproar over New York City's $53 million contract with MoCaFi to provide prepaid debit cards to migrants. Delve into the debates on transparency, fiscal responsibility, and emergency spending in the city.

When New York City announced a pioneering initiative to distribute prepaid debit cards to migrants, it was touted as a lifeline for those in dire need. The contract, worth a staggering $53 million, awarded to New Jersey-based Mobility Capital Finance (MoCaFi), aims to offer financial assistance to asylum seekers housed in temporary shelters. Yet, this no-bid contract has ignited a firestorm of criticism, raising pertinent questions about transparency, fiscal responsibility, and the equitable use of taxpayer dollars.