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Press Release

Orange County Man Charged With Defrauding Bay Area Banks

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California

SAN FRANCISCO –Daniel Rosenthal was arraigned today on charges of submitting fraudulent loan applications to three Bay Area banks using a false name and then laundering more than $2.5 million in fraudulently obtained proceeds, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David Johnson.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Daniel Rosenthal on December 23, 2014. According to the Indictment, Rosenthal, 31, of Yorba Linda, Calif., submitted fraudulent loan applications to three Bay Area banks using a false name, false bank statements, and false financial statements in support of the loan applications. According to the Indictment, Rosenthal falsely claimed that the loans were to be used to finance Sunshine Daydream, an event planning business that he falsely claimed to own.  The Indictment also alleges that after receiving the loan proceeds, Rosenthal used some of the proceeds to purchase gold and send some of the money to a bank in Cyprus and to third parties.

Rosenthal was first charged in a Criminal Complaint filed on December 9, 2014.  He was arrested in Yorba Linda, Calif., on December 11, 2014.  He made his initial appearance in federal court in Santa Ana, California, on December 11, 2014, where he was detained and ordered transported to the Northern District of California. Rosenthal first appeared in federal court in San Francisco on December 22, 2014. Today, Rosenthal was ordered detained by the Honorable Bernard Zimmerman, U.S. Magistrate Judge, and is currently being held in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service. Rosenthal is next scheduled to appear on January 12, 2015, at 2:00 p.m., for an initial appearance before the Honorable Vince Chhabria, U.S. District Court Judge.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted of bank fraud, Rosenthal faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, plus restitution. If convicted of money laundering, Rosenthal faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. If convicted of aggravated identity theft, Rosenthal faces a mandatory two-year sentence for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A . However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Denise Marie Barton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trina Khadoo.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Updated January 5, 2015