Financial Frud: NIKESH A. PATEL Pleaded Guilty to Fraud in Sham Loans to a Milwaukee Investment Company

<h2>Chief Executive of Florida-Based Financial Firm Guilty of Fraud in &dollar;179 Million Sham Loan Scheme<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>CHICAGO — The CEO of a Florida-based financial firm has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with the sale of &dollar;179 million in sham loans to a Milwaukee investment company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>NIKESH A&period; PATEL was the Chief Executive Officer of First Farmers Financial LLC when the company sold three fabricated loans totaling approximately &dollar;20 million to a Tennessee-based investment firm&comma; and 26 fabricated loans to a Milwaukee investment firm for &dollar;179 million&period; Between November 2012 and September 2014&comma; Patel created and assisted in creating false documents sent to the investment firms in support of these loans&period; Patel submitted documents to the Milwaukee investment firm that falsely created the appearance that his company had lent money to borrowers in Florida and Georgia – in amounts ranging from &dollar;2&period;5 million to &dollar;10 million – and that a portion of the loans were guaranteed by the federal government under a program administered by the U&period;S&period; Department of Agriculture&period; All 26 loans were completely fabricated with no actual borrower&comma; no pre-existing <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;category&sol;loans&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"loan" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"237">loan<&sol;a>&comma; and no government guarantee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Patel&comma; 33&comma; of Windermere&comma; Fla&period;&comma; pleaded guilty on Tuesday to five counts of wire fraud&period; The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison and a fine of &dollar;1&comma;250&comma;000&period; U&period;S&period; District Judge Charles P&period; Kocoras set sentencing for April 6&comma; 2017&comma; at 9&colon;45 a&period;m&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T&period; Fardon&comma; United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois&semi; Michael J&period; Anderson&comma; Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation&semi; and Jeffrey A&period; Monhart&comma; Regional Director of the Chicago Regional Office of the U&period;S&period; Department of Labor&comma; Employee Benefits Security Administration&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>First Farmers’ president&comma; TIMOTHY G&period; FISHER&comma; was also convicted in connection with the fraud&period; Fisher&comma; of Pasadena&comma; Calif&period;&comma; pleaded guilty last month to one count of money laundering&period; Fisher faces up to ten years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Kocoras on May 4&comma; 2017&comma; at 9&colon;45 a&period;m&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Evidence in the case revealed that Patel created fictitious business names and false USDA loan identification numbers&comma; and forged the signatures of USDA employees and purported borrowers&period; Patel also assisted in creating false <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"671">financial<&sol;a> documents&comma; including what purported to be a certified audit by a fictitious accountant that he submitted to the investment firm to obtain the funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Based upon the false statements&comma; the Milwaukee firm’s clients&comma; which included community banks&comma; retirement plans&comma; municipalities and subdivisions in Illinois and elsewhere&comma; suffered a loss of &dollar;179 million&period; Although a portion of the funds were used to make interest payments to the investors&comma; the bulk of the funds were used to pay existing debts&comma; acquire assets&comma; pay personal expenses&comma; invest in other unrelated businesses&comma; and repurchase loans that Patel had previously sold to the Tennessee investment advisor&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The government is represented by Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorneys Patrick King and Rick Young&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-ndil&sol;pr&sol;chief-executive-florida-based-financial-firm-guilty-fraud-179-million-sham-loan-scheme">Original PressReleases&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Financial Fraud