Today, a Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for securing a federal guarantee on certain loans by making false statements.
Those statements were made to the Small Business Administration (SBA) about the creditworthiness of those loans while serving as the chief lending officer of a New Jersey bank, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Honig, James Bortolotti, 53, previously pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of knowingly making false statements to influence the action of the SBA.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
While serving as the chief lending officer of a New Jersey bank (Bank-1), Bortolotti became aware of a Small Business Administration lending program to incentivize lenders, including banks, to loan money to small businesses by providing a 75 percent SBA-backed guarantee on loans.
When a lender applies an SBA guarantee on a loan, the lender must disclose information related to the creditworthiness of the small business.
Bank-1 hired a consulting firm to help the bank apply for SBA-backed guarantees.
On February 29, 2012, a consultant from the consulting firm submitted an application to the SBA for a guarantee of approximately $3.75 million on loans totaling approximately $5 million made to a small business located in Robbinsville.
The application contained false information related to the creditworthiness of the business.
Bortolotti knew the application contained false information, but he nevertheless reviewed and signed the application on behalf of the bank.
In addition to the prison term, Bortolotti was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3.17 million to the SBA.