LOS ANGELES : Man, 79, Found Guilty in Largest Loan Fee Scam
A 79-year-old man with seven prior felony convictions was found guilty Thursday in a massive loan fee scam that could earn him a sentence of 145 years in federal prison.
Milton Zucker Mende and two co-defendants set up a series of fake companies--backed by forged securities, nonexistent gold and other false assets--from 1984 to 1991, and used those firms to offer loans to small businesses. They then charged the companies advance fees for the loans, which were never delivered.
According to prosecutors Mark Holscher and James Dutton, Mende and his associates bilked those firms out of millions of dollars, making the case the largest loan fee scheme ever prosecuted in the United States. In addition to Mende--who was convicted on 25 felony counts--defendants Samuel A. Longo, 55, and Robert S. Turman were found guilty in connection with the scheme.
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