Jupiter Man Sentenced to 18 Months’ Imprisonment for Small Business Administration Disaster Fraud

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office; and Aaron Collins, Special Agent in Charge, Small Business Administration, Officer of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), announced that Alvin Roger Bellefleur, 32, of Jupiter, Florida, was sentenced yesterday for his participation in a fraud upon the Small Business Administration (SBA) following Tropical Storm Fay. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Bellefleur to18 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by one year of supervised release. The court also ordered Bellefleur to pay restitution to SBA in the amount of $42,833.78. Bellefleur previously pled guilty to making a false statement to the SBA in obtaining a loan.

According to court documents, on August 18, 2008, the president of the U.S. designated parts of South Florida a disaster zone following Tropical Storm Fay. The declaration of a disaster area allowed the SBA to offer low-interest, fixed-rate loans to small businesses to help them recover from economic injury caused by the storm. Bellefleur, through his construction company, Best Build, LLC, applied for an economic injury disaster loan from the SBA.

SBA loan regulations require borrowers to pledge available collateral to secure a disaster loan. Bellefleur mailed a personal finance statement to the SBA falsely representing that he owned one piece of real estate, that his liabilities equaled $158,000, and, there were no claims/judgments against him. As collateral, Bellefleur put up five properties and submitted false title reports for these properties that showed no undisclosed liens, judgments, or tax delinquencies. Based on the false information and other documents provided by Bellefleur, SBA approved Bellefleur’s disaster business loan in the amount of $239,300, and actually disbursed $50,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and SBA-OIG agents involved in this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rinku Tribuiani.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.