Fraud Friday — Whatever Happened to Nik Patel’s COO & Movie Partner?

January 12, 2018

Fraud Friday — Whatever Happened to Nik Patel’s COO & Movie Partner?

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Fraud Friday

While Nik Patel is sitting in a Florida jail after being arrested for his ill-fated scheme to flee to Ecuador last Saturday, the question is raised whatever happened to his partner?

Back in November 2016, Timothy Fisher, 40, pled guilty to one count of money laundering. His sentencing hearing has been postponed several times.

Timothy was the president and chief operating officer of First Farmers Financial when the company sold 26 USDA b&i non-existent hotel loans to Pennant Management for $179 million.

From the plea agreement:

In March 2012, defendant created financial statements which claimed that First Farmers had $37 million in assets, $12 million in cash on hand, and total profits of $51 million, when in truth and in fact, the company had no assets other than those obtained with stolen and converted money.

In March 2013 to induce Pennant Management to acquire USDA guaranteed loans from First Farmers, defendant assisted in the creation of false financial statements and balance sheets for calendar years 2011, 2012, and the first two months of 2013.

In these financial statements, defendant made false statements regarding First Farmers’ assets, cash on hand, net profits, loans in existence, and capital.

In approximately April 2014, in order to induce Pennant Management to continue their relationship with First Farmers, maintain the outstanding loans, and extend the existing line of credit First Farmers had with Pennant Management, defendant and Patel created what purported to be “audited financial statements” for First Farmers for calendar year 2013.

The purported “audited financial statements’ were fictitious and falsely represented that First Farmers had substantial assets, cash on hand, and profits.

Patel falsely represented that a CPA, “Geoff Kane,” prepared and audited the financial statements.

Defendant knew that Kane was a fictitious individual and he assisted Patel to create a fictitious biography for Kane.

Between May 2013 and September 2014, Patel submitted loan packages to Pennant Management for 26 loans that had purportedly been issued by First Farmers to borrowers in Florida and Georgia with principal amounts ranging from $2,500,000 to $10,000,000.

All these loans were completely fabricated, with no actual borrower, no USDA guarantee, and all bore forged borrower and USDA signatures.

Of the $175 million Pennant transferred to First Farmer’s account at BMO Harris Bank, Patel wire transferred approximately $27 million into four accounts.that defendant and Patel jointly maintained — including ASL Pictures.

ASL Pictures? Ahh, the three movies owned and produced by Fisher. Whatever happened to them? As part of the settlement of a lawsuit with the Receiver, Timothy signed over the rights to Pennant Management.

“Anarchy Parlor” was released in 2014. A LA Times movie reviewer — “Torture porn is back, and the moviegoer will be all the worse for it thanks to the dreadful flick.

“Tension is low, pacing uneven and the acting – LaSardo’s eerie work aside – proves subpar. For better or worse, sex and nudity are abundant and function as a kind of default respite from the oppressive brutality. It should also be said that several scenes are so unbearably grisly, only die-hards won’t want to look away.”

The 2015 release of “The Walking Deceased” scored an amazing 0% Rotten Tomato score. Stop me if you’ve heard the plot before. “When a police officer wakes up in a hospital to find out he is in the middle of a zombie apocalypse he will do anything to find his family, even sacrifice Twitter.”

“Within the Dark,” renamed “Be Afraid” faired better with reviews and even won an award — a 2017 Winter Film Award for Best Horror Feature Film! The plot? “Not long after John Chambers and his family arrive at their new home in a small country town of Pennsylvania, John begins to experience sleep paralysis. Lying there paralyzed, trapped within his own nightmare, other-worldly beings visit John.”

Timothy Fischer’s sentencing hearing is now scheduled for January 25th. The plea agreement implies a ten-year federal penitentiary term.

Fraud Friday — Nik Patel’s Partner Sued for $4.5 Million from USDA B&I Loan Fraud, October 22, 2015

Fraud Friday — Nik Patel Loses his Hollywood Mogul Gig, December 26, 2014