Has Prepaid Exec Russell Simmons Priced Himself Out of OWS?

When Russell Simmons visits to show his solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, he probably doesn't bring the new diamond prayer beads he was bragging about on Twitter.

Simmons, best known for his work in the music business and, more recently, his high-fee prepaid card, is one of a handful of financial services executives trying to align their image with the Occupy Wall Street protests. Some are doing it more gracefully than others.

Simmons, through his Twitter account and personal appearances at the protest site, constantly broadcasts his support for the struggling protesters. But he already has a reputation in financial circles for profiting from the high fees his company's prepaid card charges. His tweeting about diamond prayer beads doesn't help that image.

"You have to worry if this guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing," says Brian Riley, a research director at TowerGroup.

Simmons' decision to use his clout to promote financial awareness while gouging customers with his prepaid card's fees "is inherently hypocritical," says James Van Dyke, the president and founder of Javelin Strategy and Research.

Simmons' RushCard carries with it some of the highest fees in the prepaid industry, charging $9.95 a month for regular use under one of its pricing plans. Even the short-lived Kardashian Kard, which was widely vilified for its pricing, charged two dollars less per month.

In May, Florida's attorney general announced an investigation of UniRush LLC, the marketer for the RushCard, and several other prominent prepaid card providers for their fee disclosure practices.

UniRush did not respond to requests for comment. Simmons did not respond Wednesday to an inquiry sent to his account on Twitter.

However, in Twitter messages Simmons has acknowledged that his wealth places him outside of the protestors' identity as the "99%" of the population fighting back against the wealthiest 1%.

"I am part of the 100%," Simmons tweeted Thursday morning. "If anyone or anything suffers, I suffer." (Simmons repeated the message seven hours later with an #ows hashtag, which is used to give Twitter messages more visibility.)

The protesters say they are not surprised that Simmons and other financial executives are seeking to win them over.

"You are going to have people coming in here, lobbying for this particular thing or that," Walter Hillegass, one of the protestors at the movement's New York site, said Wednesday. "They know there is money here."

Hillegass, a 35-year-old unemployed plumber from Jackson Heights, Queens, has been present for the protests through much of its run. He developed an auto-immune disease after working close to the World Trade Center site and joined the protests to send a message about the poor state of health care.