Fort Myers Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Bank Fraud and Investor Fraud

FORT MYERS, FL—U.S. District Judge John E. Steele yesterday sentenced Gregory Wayne Eagle (63, Cape Coral) to six years in federal prison for bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Eagle pleaded guilty on March 14, 2013.

According to court documents, Eagle was president and director of Eagle Realty of Southwest Florida, Inc. In June 1990, Eagle created a trust agreement for approximately 101 acres of unimproved land in Cape Coral. A portion of this land bordered on Pine Island Road. Eagle was the trustee of this Pine Island 101 Land Trust and was also one of its beneficiaries, along with 52 named combined interest holders or beneficiaries. Eagle mortgaged the trust property without the knowledge of the other beneficiaries. He did so by submitting fraudulently altered trust agreements to multiple banks naming him, or an entity which he controlled, as the sole beneficiary.

Eagle also executed a number of loan documents in which he falsely claimed to be the sole beneficiary and that he had authorization to mortgage the property. In the first mortgage loan, in 2002, Eagle received $2 million from Florida Community Bank. He paid off that loan in 2006 with a mortgage loan from First National Bank of Pennsylvania. The 2006 loan was for an amount exceeding $17 million. Eagle used most of the proceeds of the second loan for his own personal use, mainly to fund other projects. He defaulted on the First National Bank of Pennsylvania mortgage loan, causing the bank to initiate foreclosure proceedings in October 2009, leaving an unpaid principal balance of $17.03 million. The beneficiaries of the Pine Island 101 Land Trust have not received compensation for their initial payments as interest holders, yearly payments, or for the increase in the value of the trust property from the time of its inception.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey F. Michelland.