Maryland Doctor Charged With Conspiracy To Commit Bank Fraud And Making False Statements In Loan Requests

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Dr. Zahid Aslam, 44, of Elkton, Maryland, was charged by the federal grand jury on June 15, 2017, in a three-count Indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and false statements on loan applications.

Count 1 charges the defendant with Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1344 and 1349. The maximum penalties for Count 1 are a term of imprisonment of thirty years; a fine of $1,000,000.00; a term of supervised release of five years; a $100 special assessment; and mandatory restitution.

Counts 2 and 3 charge the defendant with making false statements in loan requests, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1014 and 2. The maximum penalties for each of Counts 2 and 3 are a term of imprisonment of 30 years; a fine of $1,000,000.00; a term of supervised release of five years; a $100.00 special assessment; and mandatory restitution.

The Indictment alleges that Dr. Aslam, a doctor with practices in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, entered into a bank fraud scheme with Tae Kim, his loan officer at Citibank and WSFS Bank, respectively. According to the Indictment, Aslam recruited two other associates to misrepresent in loan applications that they were the true borrowers and operators of medical practices, when, in actuality, Aslam owned and operated the practices and ultimately controlled the loan proceeds. The Indictment alleges that Aslam used the third parties to apply for the loans because Aslam knew that he would not otherwise qualify for financing had he applied on his own behalf. In addition, the Indictment alleges that Aslam and Kim concealed the existence of an extensive financial relationship between the two from Citibank and WSFS during the period in which Kim acted as Aslam’s loan officer, including their joint ownership of businesses, as well as large cash payments and a BMW sedan that Aslam provided to Kim.

Acting U.S. Attorney Weiss said, “The indictment alleges that the defendant defrauded two financial institutions by misrepresenting the actual owners and operators of two medical practices and by failing to disclose a significant financial relationship with his former loan officer. It is critical that borrowers provide accurate information to financial institutions and our office is committed to prosecuting those who fail to do so.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert F. Kravetz and Jennifer L. Hall.

Members of the public are reminded that an Indictment is only an allegation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.