Mug Shot Monday — SBA Borrower Pleads Guilty for $1.7 Million Fraudulent (Photoshopped Docs) Biz Aq Loan

April 27, 2015

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Mug Shot Monday

In 2009, Stewart Harris applied for $1.7 million SBA loan to purchase a commercial glass company.

To secure the loan, Harris submitted a loan application and purported tax returns in which he falsely represented the social security number of another individual.

He also submitted photoshopped bank statements and an equity statement which falsely represented the amount of paid receipts and other cash injection into the business he was to purchase.

On June 26, 2009, Signal Financial disbursed $1,591,666 of the 90% guaranteed 7(a) loan to Harris.

From June to October, 2009, in order to conceal the loan proceeds, Harris deposited and withdrew the proceeds into different bank accounts he controlled. On October 1, 2009, Harris withdrew part of the funds to make a deposit and down payment on the purchase of a home in Brandywine, Maryland.

The loan was an early-default on January 5, 2011.

SBA paid the lender $1.6 million honoring the guarantee.

In April 2012, Harris filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy. In his petition to the bankruptcy court, Harris failed to declare the commercial lender as a creditor, and failed to disclose that he was an officer or director, and owner of five percent or more, of the glass company.

Harris faces the obligatory 30 years in prison for bank fraud, 20 years in prison for money laundering and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is in June.

Here’s the plea agreement.

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