Evanston Businessman Convicted For Bank And COVID Relief Fraud Schemes: Authorities

EVANSTON, IL — A suburban businessman was convicted Tuesday for his role in schemes to fraudulently obtain over $55 million in commercial loans and lines of credit and for submitting fraudulent applications for coronavirus relief money, authorities said.

Rahul Shah, 56, of Evanston, was found guilty of seven counts of bank fraud, five counts of making false statements to a financial institution, two counts of money laundering and two counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Shah owned and ran several IT companies in the Chicago area and fraudulently obtained funds from loans and lines of credit for which he was ineligible from federally insured financial institutions, later defaulting on at least one credit line and one loan, according to authorities. He submitted falsified bank statements and balance sheets as well as fabricated audited financial statements, authorities said.

In a loan application, he lied about payroll expenses, and he submitted to the lender fraudulent Internal Revenue Service documents, according to authorities, who said he used stolen identities to commit the fraud.

Shah is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13 and faces up to 30 years in prison on each count of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution, up to 10 years in prison on each count of money laundering, and up to two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft count, authorities said.