WASHINGTON – An indictment charging a Special Agent of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) with bank fraud and related charges was unsealed today following the agent’s arrest in Nashville, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.
The seven-count indictment returned earlier this week by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville, Fla., charges Special Agent John Thomas Jr. with one count of conspiracy, three counts of bank fraud and three counts of making false statements to federally insured banks. If convicted on all charges, Thomas could be sentenced to a maximum term of 185 years in prison and a fine of up to $6,250,000.
According to the indictment, between March 1999 and August 2000, Thomas conspired with others to fraudulently obtain approximately $106,000 in loan proceeds from three banks in Jacksonville, Fla. Thomas obtained a loan from each of the three banks in the name of Zan Tan Man Enterprises, a purported computer service provider. Thomas falsely claimed in loan applications that the company had more than $500,000 in annual revenue, several years of experience, and six to eight employees. The indictment alleges that Zan Tan Man Enterprises was actually a company Thomas created for the purpose of obtaining the three loans and that it had no revenue, no experience in the computer field and no employees.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and TIGTA. The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorneys Kathleen McGovern and Hank Bond Walther of the Fraud Section of the Justice Department=s Criminal Division.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal laws. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
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