By Ogozi John
The owner of a Virginia-based loan brokerage firm has pleaded guilty in Baltimore federal court to using forged documents to obtain $100 million in bank loans financed by The U.S. Small Business Administration.
According to prosecutors, Joon Park, 43, of Woodridge, VA., CEO of Jade Capital and 
Investments, LLC, entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein explained how Park used Jade Capital to submit phony documents to the SBA in order to obtain loans under the agency’s Section 7 (a) program that allows small business owners to qualify for loans after they invest a specified amount of their own money in the business.
“SBA underwriters approved $100 million in business loans brokered by Jade Capital based on fraudulent bank statements, checks, gift letters, resumes and tax returns that made it appear that borrowers had invested money in the businesses,” Rosenstein said in the statement.
Park admitted to the crime, revealing how he conspired with others, including his brother, Loren Park, to knowingly prepare SBA loan application documents which were submitted to loan originators and underwriters on behalf of clients who were unqualified for the loans based on their financial investments. Park and his conspirators went on to alter bank statements to show that the applicants had invested the required funds to qualify for the loans.
And in some cases, the loan applicants did not even know that their information was being altered, instead, Joon and Loren Park diverted the proceeds without the applicants’ knowledge.
Between 1998 and 2011, Park submitted over 124 fraudulent loan applications and obtained millions of dollars in loan proceeds guaranteed by the SBA using taxpayers’ money.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for May 28, and Park faces up to 30 years in prison with payments of more than $91 million in restitution.
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