Former Norfolk Resident Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud and Tax Charges

NORFOLK, VA—Jady Brooks, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia and formerly of Norfolk, Virginia, pled guilty today in Norfolk federal court to defrauding Navy Federal Credit Union and filing a false federal tax return. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the bank fraud charge, and three years in prison on the tax charge, when he is sentenced on May 7, 2012.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Brooks’ plea was accepted by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

According to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Brooks filed loan applications with Navy Federal Credit Union on behalf of individuals he solicited which falsely indicated the purpose of the loan was to purchase a motor vehicle. He filed these applications for a secured car loan because he knew that the applicants were not sufficiently creditworthy to obtain an unsecured personal loan. In several such instances, he created and submitted false tax returns, W-2 forms, pay stubs, and lease agreements in support of these fraudulent loan applications. He instructed the borrowers to endorse the loan proceeds checks and turn them over to him for deposit into several business accounts he controlled. Before negotiating a check, he would write in a description, including a vehicle identification number, of a vehicle that supposedly would be purchased with the proceeds, knowing that no such vehicle had actually been purchased. He also delivered fictitious bills of sale to the credit union. He made payments to the loan recipients at times and in amounts that he determined, always keeping a portion of the proceeds for himself. Most of the loans went into default, and without collateral to secure the loans, Navy Federal sustained losses totaling approximately $941,000. Brooks also failed to report on his 2008 and 2009 tax returns approximately $770,000 income he derived from the loan proceeds he took in from the scheme, resulting in substantial tax losses to the Internal Revenue Service.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Alan M. Salsbury is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.