David Gwin Sentenced to Eight-Year Prison Term for Fraudulent Loan Scheme

DENVER—David Gwin, age 51, of Aurora, Colorado, was sentenced late yesterday afternoon by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to serve 96 months (eight years) in federal prison for wire fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and the IRS-CI announced. Following the eight-year prison sentence, Gwin was ordered to serve three years on supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his crime in the amount of $933,841.06. A forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $933,585.00 was also ordered. Gwin appeared at the sentencing hearing free on bond. Judge Arguello ordered that Gwin be taken into custody immediately to begin serving his sentence.

David Gwin was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on February 10, 2009. He pled guilty before Judge Arguello on February 19, 2010. He was sentenced yesterday, May 18, 2010.

According to the stipulated facts contained in the indictment and subsequent plea agreement, starting in October 2003 and continuing until August 2005, David Gwin devised a scheme to defraud individuals and companies seeking multi-million-dollar loans by collecting an advanced fee from them and then failing to secure funding for the loans that were sought.

From early October 2003 through January 2005, Gwin operated a business called “Asset Funding Solutions, Inc.” (AFSI), which purported to be in the business of finding private investors to fund loans for investment projects, as well as being the lender itself for such loans. In February 2005, Gwin and others changed the name of the business to “Asset Global Funding, Inc.” (AGF), which continued to operate until about August 2005.

Gwin told people and companies seeking multi-million-dollar loans that they were required to pay a fee in advance of receiving the funding for their loans. The advanced fee was called a “due diligence fee,” or “retainer,” or an “application fee.” In order to persuade the people and companies seeking multi-million-dollar loans to send the advanced fee, Gwin falsely told them that the fee was refundable if the loan they sought was not funded. The advanced fees ranged from $5,000 to $340,000, depending on the size of the loan sought.

During the course of the fraudulent scheme, Gwin repeatedly told the people and companies who had sent AFSI/AGF advanced fees that he was meeting with investors to secure their funding, and that funding for their loan would happen soon. The defendant did not secure funding for the loans and he did not return the vast majority of the advanced fees that were paid.

“Advanced fee schemes require substantial investment up front in return for large cash loans later,” said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette. “If someone asks you to pay money to obtain a loan, you need to be extremely wary. Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI and IRS CI, more of these criminal schemes are being discovered and those responsible are being prosecuted.”

“We are very pleased with this sentence as it sends a powerful message; those who prey on the trust of their clients will be brought to justice,” said Christopher M. Sigerson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office. “This successful investigation was due to the cooperative efforts of our law enforcement partners—the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI.”

“Hopefully, Gwin’s long-term of imprisonment will provide the victims with some sense of justice,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis. “The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and seek prosecution of white collar crime cases to the fullest extent of the law.”

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pegeen Rhyne with assistance regarding the criminal forfeiture from Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya Andrews.