NORFOLK, Va. - Irfan M. Jameel, 51, of Virginia Beach, Va., was convicted today by a federal jury on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and use of a false social security number.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Royce E. Curtin of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after the jury returned its verdict. Senior United States District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr., presided over the trial.
Jameel faces a maximum penalty of thirty years on each of counts one through three, and a maximum penalty of five years on count four, when he is sentenced on Oct. 16, 2014.
Jameel was indicted on July 25, 2013 by a federal grand jury on one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, two counts of financial institution fraud, and one count of using a false social security number. According to court records and evidence at trial, Jameel defrauded several lenders by misrepresenting the status and nature of his business and income in the US and Canada and by misrepresenting his medical career and accomplishments. Among other things, Jameel claimed to be the chief scientist of an international biotechnology company, Biocer, and reported that it paid him approximately $8,000,000 in 2005 and 2006. As a result of these and other misrepresentations, Jameel obtained $3 million in loans from SunTrust to buy an 8 acre waterfront estate, $2.375 million in loans from Gateway Bank, and a $46,000 car loan from a local credit union. Although he used a portion of the loan proceeds to extinguish some of this debt, Jameel later defaulted upon all of these loans. After obtaining such loans, Jameel also used a false social security number when seeking the preparation of three years of federal income tax returns by an accounting firm.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Norfolk Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Krask and Stephen Haynie are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
