A suburban Chicago businessman has been hit with a three-year prison sentence for bank fraud, after scamming financial institutions out of millions with deceitfully obtained loans and using other people's identities to amass credit, in a revealing case of high-stakes financial deception. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Yale Schiff, the man behind the fraud, maneuvered through the financial system by lying about income, employment, and collateral on multiple mortgage and vehicle loans, then taking the cash.
Not merely satisfied with bank loans, Schiff doubled down on his fraudulent conquests by removing liens with bogus documents, and re-utilizing the same properties for new loans—thus pocketing even more illicit funds. He wasn't just shed off the liens, he was enriched by the loan proceeds, all while enduring losses to these none-the-wiser lenders, they were left holding the empty bag as Schiff's pockets grew ever heavier. Schiff didn't act alone, as his brother Jason Schiff and an associate, David Izsak, were also snared in the federal investigation that uncovered this tangled web of deceit and misuse of credit.
In a statement obtained by the Justice Department, U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland, who sentenced Schiff on January 16, also ordered him to pay up nearly $3 million in restitution, offering a financial reckoning to accompany his prison term, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri H. Mecklenburg outlined the brazen nature of the scheme saying, "Defendant's conduct was prolonged, willful, and widespread." Schiff's actions not only manipulated the balance sheets of financial institutions but also victimized individuals, including using the identity of an elderly woman in memory care and a deceased friend to further bolster his fraudulent empire.
While Yale Schiff faces his three-year sentence, his brother, Jason Schiff, received a punishment of a different sort with three years of probation and restitution payments after pleading guilty to causing a false statement to be made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; David Izsak awaits his sentencing after a jury found him guilty on ten counts of financial institution fraud, marks different fates for each player in this criminal enterprise.
