A group of four people has been charged with committing a large-scale bank fraud scheme. The charges include wire fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, financial institution fraud, and money laundering. The defendants are accused of defrauding 17 financial institutions of over $17 million by submitting fraudulent loan applications. They allegedly provided false information about their employment, income, and assets to obtain loans for personal purposes instead of the intended use. The defendants defaulted on most of the loans, causing significant losses to the financial institutions.
The Department of Justice says Nitin Vats, a 52-year-old man from India and former worker at a marble and granite company in New Jersey that’s closed now, admitted he’s guilty of teaming up to trick a US bank into giving them $17 million they didn’t deserve.
Details of the Fraud Scheme
Between March 2016 and March 2018, Vats and others at Lotus Exim International Inc. (LEI) worked together to get a $17 million loan from a bank using deceitful methods. To hide the fact that they didn’t have enough assets to secure the loan, Vats made fake email addresses for LEI’s clients. This let other LEI workers pretend to be these clients and answer questions from the bank and auditors about the money owed to LEI. They made up lots of fake invoices with higher amounts or completely made-up debts, which led to the bank losing about $17 million.
Legal Consequences
Nitin Vats faces a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. His sentencing is scheduled for September 11. If convicted, each defendant could face up to 30 years in prison for the bank fraud and wire fraud conspiracy charge, up to 30 years per count for financial institution fraud, and up to 10 years for money laundering.
Four additional defendants have already been convicted for their involvement in the scheme and received prison sentences ranging from 15 months to 36 months, along with restitution payments.