Knoxville Hotel Owner Sentenced To Serve 42 Months In Prison For Bank Fraud

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Jayesh Dahyabhai Patel, 49, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced on Jan. 15, 2015, by the Honorable Leon Jordan, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 42 months in federal prison. Patel was also ordered to pay restitution of $2,806,438.20 to First Community Bank and serve five years of supervised release upon his release from prison.

Patel was indicted in May 2014 and pleaded guilty in July 2014 to bank fraud. He admitted engaging in a scheme from approximately January 2009 to August 2011 to defraud First Community Bank of East Tennessee, Kingsport, Tenn., in connection with an application for a loan to his business, QIS Knoxville, LLC, by providing false tax returns to induce First Community Bank to issue the loan for the purchase and renovation of a Knoxville hotel. Patel further schemed to defraud First Community Bank by providing false invoices to induce the bank to disburse loan funds and by providing additional false tax returns in order to increase the amount of the loan and to obtain a six-month interest only payment period. Finally, he fraudulently induced First Community Bank to make a second loan to finance the sale of a motel by Patel to a relative by providing false information as to the down payment on the purchase. As a result of the fraud, First Community Bank suffered losses of $2,806,438.20.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith represented the United States.