Palatine Bank Fraud Schemer Among Several Sentenced

CHICAGO, IL — A Palatine resident is among several defendants sentenced to prison in a bank fraud scheme. According to a release form the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced Charnpal Ghuman, 39, of Palatine, and Aga Khan, 39, of Bloomingdale to prison in the scheme and ordered them and two others to pay more than $14.3 million in restitution. Ghuman and Khan were business partners who flipped gas stations in Illinois and other areas in the Midwest by purchasing them and reselling them to buyers whom Ghuman and Khan knew weren't qualified to receive bank financing, officials said, but obtained more than $40 million in loan proceeds from 2006 to 2009 as a result of the scheme.

According to a release, the pair conspired with loan officer Akash Brahmbhatt, 44, of Spring, Texas, inside American Enterprise Bank to submit false aoplication documents to get loans from the bank guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Accountant Shital Mehta, 53, of Elk Grove Village, also participated in the scheme by furnishing the bank with false tax returns to assist in getting over half the loan applicants qualified for financing, a release said.

The four defendants pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges, and on Thursday, April 4, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. ordered restitution to AEB of $14,343,899. According to a release, Judge Tharp had previously sentenced the defendants to prison terms.

The sentences and restitution order were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Gabriel L. Grchan, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The SBA and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. assisted in the investigation, officials said.

Prison terms and restitution for each of the defendants:

• Ghuman: Five years and six months in prison; restitution of $11,843,899, of which $2 million is owed personally and the remainder owed jointly with Khan. Ghuman also received a concurrent sentence of three years in prison and was ordered to pay $1,952,653 to the IRS after also pleading guilty to filing a false tax return, officials said.
• Khan: Three years in prison; restitution of $10,843,899, of which $1 million is owed personally and the remainder owed jointly with Ghuman, according to officials.
• Brahmbhatt: Three years in prison; restitution of $10,843,899, of which $1 million is owed personally and the remainder owed jointly with Ghuman, officials said.
• Mehta: One year and one day in prison; restitution of $500,000, owed personally, according to officials.

More details: justice.gov