Fraud Friday: The “Bank Tour” That Turned Bad Borrowers Into Good Loan Files 

August 28, 2026

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

Fraud Friday: The “Bank Tour” That Turned Bad Borrowers Into Good Loan Files 

For a small-business owner who could not qualify on his own, Preferred Marketing Group’s process would end with a ride from bank to bank.

PMG called it the “bank tour.”

Employees drove borrowers across North Texas, targeting loan officers who regularly handled PMG clients. Applications for loans, credit lines and credit cards were packed into one or two days so lenders would not see how many other applications were already pending. PMG had studied the lending practices of different banks and determined what information would give a borrower the best chance of receiving the maximum amount.

But the borrower did not simply arrive with a fraudulent application. PMG managed the borrower and structured the presentation.

Kwanghee “Kathy” Anh was part of that process.

She collected clients’ personal, employment and income information. For Korean-speaking borrowers, Anh translated while PMG owner Eddie Contreraz instructed clients how to use false information on their loan applications.

Credit repair would come first.

For borrowers with low scores, Kathy used false identity-theft claims to challenge debt appearing on credit reports. Clients filed false police reports claiming their identities, identification documents or credit cards had been lost or stolen. Anh managed that process and arranged fraudulent notarized documents supporting those claims.

One client, identified as B.K., paid Anh in January 2015 to repair his credit so he could borrow money. His score increased. Ten months later, Anh helped him use false information to obtain a $5,000 Bank of America loan.

Small-business owners presented another problem.

If the bank knew the borrower owned the company, it could ask for business financial statements and examine the source of the owner’s income. PMG avoided that scrutiny by listing some owners as salaried managers of businesses they actually owned to avoid providing additional financial information about the business.

Then came the supporting paperwork.

PMG supplied false W-2s, pay stubs and utility bills. Income was inflated. Jobs were invented. An unemployed borrower could suddenly have an employer. A friend, relative or former co-worker could verify employment if the lender called.

The PMG operation produced at least $29 million in fraudulent credit between 2011 and 2016.

Anh fled the United States in 2017. She was arrested in South Korea in September 2025, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in March, and this week received 58 months in federal prison and $8.34 million in restitution.

“This was not a victimless paperwork scheme,” says U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “Ms. Anh and her partners flooded lenders with false documents and manipulated credit reports to steal millions. Their actions undermine confidence in the financial markets that North Texans and Main Street families rely on every day.”