Three individuals involved in a substantial bank fraud scheme have been sentenced. The perpetrators, two loan brokers and a bank loan officer based in Massachusetts, capitalized on the deviation of trust within the financial sector to exploit funds designated for local businesses. On October 20th, an official press release from The Department of Justice revealed that they deceived a bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), securing significant illegal proceeds.
Ted Capodilupo, Joseph Masci, and Brian Ferris were convicted for their parts in preparing fraudulent loan applications to obtain bank loans guaranteed by the SBA. To occurring between 2015 and 2018, it revealed a sustained functional failure that proved costly for the bank concerned.
Capodilupo and Masci submitted falsified applications for small business owners who did not qualify for standard loans to secure these loans. They misrepresented aspects such as the identity of recipients and loan purposes, often forging signatures. These brokers not only processed these applications but charged the borrowers substantial fees without the knowledge of the bank.
Ferris, a loan officer at the bank, processed the fraudulent loan applications, creating fake tax documents to support them. He received about $500 per loan from Capodilupo and Masci, which resulted in a notable accumulation of fees from this operation, totaling roughly $270,000.
The aftereffects of this misdeed surfaced swiftly as several loans defaulted, inflicting serious losses on the bank. According to The Department of Justice press release, Capodilupo and Masci were ordered to pay restitution amounting to $1,424,087 each, while Ferris was ordered to repay $1,236,251.
