Short-term lender Wonga was fined £2.6million after being found to have created fake law firms to chase debts from its cash-strapped customers.
Astonishingly, the company – which signed a four year £24 million deal with the Magpies in 2012 – even added extra charges to cover its own admin costs for sending the bogus letters.
Many Toon fans were up in arms when the deal was first announced.
The sponsor returned the name of the stadium to St James’ Park, but Papiss Cisse came close to quitting the Tyneside club last season after objecting to wearing the club’s shirt on moral and religious grounds to displaying the payday lender’s logo on his kit.
The full findings of a full-scale investigation into the payday lenders by the Office of Fair Trading is expected to be published later this year.