David E. Miller, 61, of Brentwood,
Tennessee was convicted by a federal jury late Friday of two counts of making a
false statement to a bank and two counts of aggravated identity theft,
announced Jerry E. Martin, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee;
Martin P. Phanco, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service;
and Aaron T. Ford, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Memphis Division.
Specifically, the jury found Miller
guilty of making false statements to First Bank in relation to a loan in the
amount of $337,500 that Miller received in May 2007 and the renewal of that
loan one year later. Miller was also found guilty of aggravated identity theft
for using the forged names of two individuals in a document that Miller
provided to First Bank for a personal loan.
Evidence at trial established that
Miller had solicited investors for Fellowship Investors LLC for the purpose of
purchasing a tract of land at 4426 Harpeth School Road in Williamson County,
Tennessee. The land was to be held for future sale when it would have appreciated
in value.
Fellowship Investors LLC was formed by
Miller to hold title to the property that would be jointly owned by the
investing members. Miller, who has worked as a real estate developer for three
decades, told the investors that the property would be a cash deal and that the
land would be held with no encumbrances. Instead, Miller sought a loan from
First Bank in the amount of $337,500 to partially fund the purchase of the
property. The $337,500 First Bank loan was made to the David E. Miller Development
Company using the Fellowship Investors’ property pledged as collateral. Since
the Fellowship Investors’ property would be titled in the name of Fellowship
Investors LLC, First Bank required a resolution from all of the members of
Fellowship Investors, with specific language in the resolution to document the
knowledge and consent of all members for the land to be used as collateral for
the loan to David E. Miller Development Company.
The resolution containing the names of
all investors was prepared by the closing attorney in conjunction with First
Bank and ultimately signed by Miller. However, Miller never advised the members
that he had pledged the property as collateral for his loan. Miller instead
used part of the proceeds of the loan for his personal benefit and to fund
other ventures that he was managing at the time.
During the trial, Miller testified that
he did not remember the resolution and did not remember signing it, although he
did admit that it was his signature on the resolution. Further, Miller
testified that he had not intended to use the real property as collateral for
his loan and that he had only intended to use his capital contributing share in
the property as collateral and that the bank had made a mistake. When asked
about the Multipurpose Note and Security Agreement and Deed of Trust that he
had signed pledging the real property, Miller testified that he did not realize
what he was signing.
Miller faces up to 30 years in prison
and a $1,000,000 fine on each of the false statement charges and additional
mandatory consecutive terms of two years on the aggravated identity theft
charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2012, by U.S. District
Judge Marvin E. Aspen, a visiting judge from the Northern District of Illinois.
The investigation was conducted by the
U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The
United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra G. Moses and
Kathryn B. Ward.
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