Binder Tal, Baldev Tal and Sharifal Mintu, three Indian Americans were arrested on bank fraud and money laundering charges, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced August 4th. Baldev Tal was arrested on the morning of Aug. 4 in Orefield, Penn., and appeared in Philadelphia federal court later that afternoon. Mintu was arrested the same morning in Orange County, New York, and appeared in White Plains federal court later that morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison. Binder Tal remains at large. Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiring to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.
According to the allegations in the complaint unsealed Aug. 4 in White Plains federal court, from at least in or about 2007 through in or about July 2015, Binder Tal, Baldev Tal and Mintu fraudulently obtained loans and lines of credit from banks, credit unions and other lending institutions.
The defendants obtained the loans by providing materially false information to the lenders about the borrowers’ assets, including false information about the borrowers’ employment and income. Through their scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators fraudulently obtained more than $2.5 million in proceeds in connection with dozens of loan applications and applications for lines of credit. The vast majority of the loans and lines of credit went into default, and millions of dollars were not repaid.
As part of their fraud scheme, the defendants used the proceeds to personally enrich themselves and their families. Binder Tal, Baldev Tal and Mintu each face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the charge of conspiring to commit bank fraud and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiring to commit money laundering.
