Man Sentenced To Over Eight Years In Prison For Defrauding Federal Credit Union In Las Vegas

            LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A man who made false statements to a federally insured credit union to obtain a $7.5 million commercial real estate loan, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Roger L. Hunt to 98 months in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to the credit union, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Brent Edward Lovett, 50, of Henderson, Nev., was convicted by a jury in February 2013 of bank fraud.   Lovett was permitted to self-report to federal prison by Aug. 2, 2013.

            According to the indictment and evidence presented to the jury during the trial, during 2006, Lovett devised a scheme to defraud Lockheed Federal Credit Union by fraudulently obtaining a commercial real estate loan from which he would skim part of the loan proceeds for himself.  Lovett controlled Bay Resorts International, which leased two commercial buildings at 2400 N. Tenaya Way in Las Vegas.  From about May to June 2006, Lovett caused Bay Resorts to purchase the buildings for $6 million.  Lovett caused Bay Resorts to sell the buildings for $10 million to another company he controlled, Equity Resource, Inc. Lovett caused Equity Resource to apply for a commercial real estate loan with Lockheed Federal Credit Union to purchase the buildings, and in the application and supporting documents, Lovett made false statements and omissions regarding Bay Resorts, Equity Resource, and the sales history of the buildings.  Based on those false statements, Lockheed Federal Credit Union made a loan to Equity Resource for $7.5 million.  Lovett obtained approximately $1.3 million from the proceeds of the sale of the buildings to Equity Resource. Lovett then allowed the buildings to go into foreclosure and kept the balance of the proceeds for himself. 

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Griswold and Brian Pugh.

This case was handled in connection with the President's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys' offices and state and local partners, it's the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.