Owner of Brunsman Companies Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for $50 Million Fraud
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 22, 2011 |
CINCINNATI—Richard T. Brunsman Jr., 45, of Cincinnati was sentenced in United States District Court to 144 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $62 million in loans from 18 different federally insured banks for his companies. Brunsman was ordered to repay the banks $49,742,343.16 in restitution, which represents the amount they lost.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati (FBI), announced the sentence imposed today by Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott.
Brunsman applied for the loans between 2004 and 2010 claiming the money would be used for one or more of the approximately 20 solely owned businesses he had. He created numerous false documents including false financial statements and other documents for his companies in order to obtain the loans.
Analysis of his bank records during the investigation found that he used the money he fraudulently obtained to live an expensive lifestyle that included a large house in Cincinnati, a waterfront condo in Florida, and a large yacht. He took numerous trips, including trips to California and Las Vegas, and enjoyed entertaining.
Brunsman became engaged in so many businesses, real estate purchases, and other investments that he lost significant funds in these ventures. When banks expressed concern about signs of fraud in the loans, Brunsman responded by fraudulently obtaining more loans from other lenders to pay off the loans at the banks that were asking questions.
He pleaded guilty on February 22, 2011 to one count of bank fraud.
“In the end, the Defendant left an unparalleled trail of devastation through the Cincinnati banking community,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Mangan wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed with the court.
Brunsman’s sentence includes an order that he forfeit all fraud-related assets which are proceeds of the crime. Judge Dlott ordered Brunsman to report to the Bureau of Prisons on November 28, 2011 to begin serving his sentence.
Stewart commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Mangan and the FBI agents who conducted the investigation.