Fraud Friday: Every Piece of Paper Was Fake — How One Fraudster Convinced Seven Banks to Lend $39 Million
July 10, 2026
Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher
Fraud Friday: Every Piece of Paper Was Fake — How One Fraudster Convinced Seven Banks to Lend $39 Million
Today’s fraudster was so good at the con that he convinced seven banks to loan him $39 million for large, industrial earth-moving construction equipment and working capital over the course of ten years.
CPA-audited financial statements showed that Topolewski America had over $78 million and $85 million in revenue in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Gary Topolewski’s companies touted that their largest clients were from federal and state governments and the mining sector, including its three major customers: the Bureau of Land Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy.
Not so fast, says the FBI, “A public records search of USASpending.gov and Sam.gov, websites which track the awards of government contracts, shows that there were no awards listed for Topolewski America – either as a general or subcontractor. Further, the Department of Energy confirmed that Topolewski America has never performed work for the agency.”
On Tuesday, Topolewski was sentenced to 78 months in prison for bank-loan fraud that resulted in $39 million in losses to his lenders.
The FBI unraveled one loan to expose the fraud. And every piece of paper was fake.
The financial statements, equipment invoices, trade references, corporate resolutions, a driver’s license for the purported chief operating officer, banking information, and supporting documentation identifying a major Caterpillar equipment purchase.
On March 24, 2022, an individual using the name “R.F.” submitted a loan application on behalf of Topolewski America to purchase two Caterpillar D10T2 bulldozers bearing serial numbers JJW00465 and JJW0047 for $3,511,512.
The application identified a business telephone number, company website, bank account, and three commercial trade references. Investigators later determined that Topolewski controlled each of those entities through bank accounts on which he was the authorized signer.
The bank approved the loan and, within two weeks, closed it and wired $3,511,512 to the vendor, Finning.
But you’ve already figured out Topolewski was Finning..
The FBI traced the Caterpillar serial numbers and discovered the two bulldozers had been sold to completely unrelated purchasers.
Following the money tells the rest of the story.
$2.2 million of the loan proceeds was transferred into Topolewski America accounts. Approximately $1 million was transferred to another company owned by Topolewski, Metal Jeans. Additional transfers moved money to other financial institutions connected to Topolewski.
As part of its due diligence, the Bank received a Corporate Resolution to Borrow naming an individual identified as “B.W.” as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and authorizing him to execute the loan documents.
Here’s his California driver’s license.
However, the real B.W. is an African-American male, not the male depicted in the license provided to the bank by Topolewski America.
FBI Agent Adkins wrote, the evidence “makes it reasonable to believe that TOPOLEWSKI utilized numerous aliases not only to make his companies appear more legitimate, but also to conceal his control.”
The bank recorded the phone call by R.F in support of a new application in 2024.
Continues the FBI agent, “Based on my training and experience and familiarity with TOPOLEWSKI’s voice from watching a videotaped deposition of him in a civil litigation in or around June 2018, I recognized the voice of R.F. from the Bank 1 calls to be very similar to, and likely matches, the voice of TOPOLEWSKI in the deposition.”