A California was sentenced to nearly five years in prison – and ordered to pay more than $5 million in restitution — for fraudulently obtaining more than $11 million in bank loans to by a gas station and a pair of car washes, the Department of Justice said in a release last week.
The release was distributed Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s (FDIC) Office of Inspector General. The FDIC said it worked in partnership with DOJ in prosecuting the case.
According to DOJ, Mohsen Hass, 60 of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was sentenced Aug. 27 by a federal judge to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $5.7 million in restitution to the victim financial institutions.
The law enforcement agency said Hass purchased the gas station and car washes after receiving loans that were approved based on loan applications he submitted in 2006 and 2007 that containing false information, including fake assets Hass claimed he was using for a down payment.
According to DOJ, the lenders suffered losses when Hass defaulted on the loans. Hass was initially charged in 2014, but he fled to Iran for nearly four years before surrendering in February of this year.
“The victims in this case include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which served as receiver for one of the financial institutions, Mirae Bank, which went into receivership as a result of the fraudulent conduct” DOJ said.
Thousand Oaks Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Federal Prison in $11 Million Bank Fraud Case