This week, it was announced that a 44-year-old resident of Houston, Texas had been sentenced to prison for causing a loss of more than $4 million to several local banks. Andre Chenier pleaded guilty on January 29, 2016. Judge Gray Miller accepted the plea and sentenced Chenier to 48 months to be followed by three years of supervised release. The defendant has also been ordered to pay $4,581,942 in restitution.
Evidence shows that Chenier obtained multi-million dollar commercial loans from several Houston-area banks from 2004 to 2012. He obtained the loans by submitting false and fraudulent documents. The defendant submitted loan applications, which included falsified financial statements and fake income tax returns. The loans were obtained using the Social Security numbers of identity theft victims.
Eventually, Chenier defaulted on both loans as well as others. In doing so, he caused a loss of $4,581,942. Chenier told the banks that he owned numerous technology companies. In reality, the companies were fictitious and the defendant was living off of the proceeds of the loans. Chenier received assistance from co-defendant Jason F. Meadors. The 45-year-old man from Houston worked as Chenier’s loan officer at Third Coast Bank and the Bank of Texas.
65-year-old Gregory Roberson of Missouri City was also a co-defendant in the case. He prepared falsified income tax forms and other documents to help Chenier acquire the commercial loans. The two co-defendants have also pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2018.
44-year-old Andre Chenier will remain in custody until he can be transferred to a United States Bureau of Prison facility in the near future. Additional details can be found here.