Berlin Man Admits Running Investment Fraud Scheme

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Frank Mete, 55, of Berlin, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to fraud and tax evasion offenses stemming from an investment fraud scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately 2009 to November 2012, Mete operated an investment fraud scheme in which he held himself out as a broker of hard money loans between investors and purported individual borrowers who were willing to borrow money at interest rates of 15 to 18 percent. In fact, there were no such borrowers. In order to induce the investors to extend loans to the purported borrowers through him as the broker, Mete created false promissory notes, mortgage documents, and other false records using the names of the fictitious borrowers. After receiving from the victim investors checks that were made out to the purported borrowers, he forged the signatures on the checks and deposited the funds into several bank accounts he opened in the borrowers’ names.

Through this scheme, Mete defrauded investors of approximately $1,191,610.50. He used the funds to pay for various personal expenses.

Mete also failed to file federal income tax returns from 2009 to 2012, causing a tax loss to the government of approximately $357,324.

METE pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of tax evasion, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

This case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

Mete has been detained in state custody on unrelated charges since November 8, 2013.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric J. Glover.