Factual Resume — United States v. Mihir Patel (Northern District of Texas, Document 152)

Summary

Factual Resume filed July 22, 2024 as Document 152 in United States of America v. Mihir Patel (01), No. 3:23-CR-0252-K, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, in support of Patel's plea of guilty to Count One of the indictment, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (18 U.S.C. § 1344(2)), Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud. Patel admits that from in or about March 2020 through in or about April 2023 Patel conspired with named codefendants to obtain PPP loans for purported metal recycling companies, including 4G Metals, Inc. and Level Eight, Inc., and for individuals, through false applications. The document also describes a line of credit fraud and a business loan fraud and states that Patel admits causing losses not greater than $3,500,000. Exhibit A lists the loans by financial institution.

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v. NO. 3:23-CR-0252-K
MIHIR PATEL (01)

FACTUAL RESUME

In support of Mihir Patel’s plea of guilty to the offense in Count One of the
indictment, Mihir Patel, the defendant, Sid Mody and Steve Fahey, the defendant’s
attorneys, and the United States of America (the government) stipulate and agree to the
following:

ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE

To prove the offense alleged in Count One of the indictment, charging a violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (18 U.S.C. § 1344(2)), that is, Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud,
the government must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:!

First: That two or more persons made an agreement to commit bank fraud,
as charged in the indictment;

Second: That the defendant knew the unlawful purpose of the agreement; and

Third: That the defendant joined in the agreement willfully, that is, with the
intent to further the unlawful purpose. .

The elements of Bank Fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2), are as follows:?

First: That the defendant knowingly executed a scheme or artifice;

! United States v. Martinez, 921 F.3d 452, 467 (Sth Cir. 2019).
? Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Instruction 2.58B (5th Cir. 2019).

Factual Resume—Page 1
Second: That the scheme or artifice was executed to obtain monies or other
property from a financial institution, as alleged in the indictment,

Third: _ That the scheme or artifice was executed by means of false or
fraudulent pretenses, false or fraudulent representations, or false or
fraudulent promises; and

Fourth: _ That the false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises
were material.

STIPULATED FACTS

1. Mihir Patel admits and agrees that, from in or about March 2020, through
in or about April 2023, in the Northern District of Texas and elsewhere, he knowingly
and willfully combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with codefendants Prateek

~ Desai, Kinjal Patel, Imran Khan, Chirag Gandhi, Wajahat Khan, Bhavesh Patel,
Dharmesh Patel, Mitra Bhattarai, and Bhargav Bhatt to knowingly execute and attempt to
execute a scheme and artifice to obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets,
securities, and other property owned by, and under the custody and control of, a financial
institution, the deposits of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (“FDIC”) and the accounts of which were insured by the National Credit
Union Share Insurance Fund (“NCU Fund”), by means of materially false and fraudulent

pretenses, representations, and promises, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2).

The Recycling Companies

2. Mihir Patel agrees that 4G Metals, Inc. (“4G Metals”) and Level Eight, Inc.
(“Level Eight”) were purported metal recycling companies operating as a loosely

affiliated group of entities (“recycling companies”).

Factual Resume—Page 2
Case 3:23-cr-00252-K Document152- Filed07/22/24 Page3of9 PagelD 413

The Paycheck Protection Program Fraud

3. Mihir Patel agrees that the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”),

_ implemented by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), was a COVID-19 relief
initiative that, among other things, provided small businesses with forgivable loans to pay
for payroll and certain other expenses. Under the PPP, participating third-party lenders
approved loan applications and disbursed PPP loans to qualifying businesses. Mihir Patel
admits he knew that, to obtain a PPP loan, a business was required to submit a PPP loan
application to a lender. In the PPP loan application, the business was required to state,
among, other things, the business’s average monthly payroll. This payroll information
was used to calculate the amount of funds that the business was eligible to receive as a
PPP loan.

4, Mihir Patel agrees that American Bank, National Association (“American
Bank”), Celtic Bank, Dominion Bank, Happy State Bank, Midwest Regional Bank, and
One World Bank were financial institutions, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 20, whose deposits
were insured by the FDIC. He agrees that Carter Federal Credit Union, also known as
Carter Credit Union (“Carter FCU”), was a financial institution, as defined in 18 U.S.C.

§ 20, whose accounts were insured by the NCU Fund. Mihir Patel agrees that American
Bank, Carter FCU, Celtic Bank, Dominion Bank, Happy State Bank, Midwest Regional
Bank, and One World Bank participated in the PPP as lenders. He agrees that Happy
State Bank, Midwest Regional Bank, One World Bank, and Dominion Bank were located

in the Northern District of Texas.

Factual Resume—Page 3
5. Mihir Patel admits that from in or about March 2020, through in or about
April 2023, Mihir Patel, conspiring with codefendants Prateek Desai, Kinjal Patel, Imran
Khan, Chirag Gandhi, Wajahat Khan, Bhavesh Patel, Dharmesh Patel, Mitra Bhattarai,
and Bhargav Bhatt, obtained, and attempted to obtain, PPP loans on behalf of various
recycling companies and individuals by submitting, and causing to be submitted, to
several financial institutions false and fraudulent PPP loan applications.

6. Specifically, Mihir Patel admits that, in furtherance of the conspiracy, he
and his coconspirators prepared PPP loan applications that falsely inflated the recycling
companies’ monthly payroll expenses, and created fraudulent documentation, such as
payroll expense summary charts, to support these false applications. For instance, Mihir
Patel admits that on or about April 14, 2020, Bhavesh Patel prepared a PPP loan
application on behalf of 4G Metals that falsely inflated the recycling company’s payroll
costs. Mihir Patel admits that he subsequently caused this false PPP loan application to
be submitted to Happy State Bank.

7. Mihir Patel admits that, in furtherance of the conspiracy, he and his
coconspirators also prepared PPP loan applications for various individuals that falsely
described the individuals’ business income and created fraudulent Internal Revenue
Service (“IRS”) 1099-MISC and Schedule C forms to support the false applications. For
instance, Mibir Pate! admits that on or about April 23, 2020, he assisted Dharmesh Patel
in preparing a PPP loan application that falsely described Dharmesh Patel’s payroll.
Mihir Patel admits that on or about the same day, Kinjal Patel prepared an IRS Schedule

C form that falsely inflated Dharmesh Patel’s gross income. Mihir Patel admits that

Factual Resume—Page 4
Dharmesh Patel’s fraudulent PPP loan application and false IRS form were subsequently
submitted to Carter FCU.

8. Mihir Patel admits that, in furtherance of the conspiracy, he caused
financial institutions to fund the PPP loans identified in Exhibit A.

The Line of Credit Fraud

9. Mihir Patel agrees that Spectra Bank was a financial institution, as defined
in 18 U.S.C. § 20, whose deposits were insured by the FDIC. He agrees that Spectra
Bank was located in the Northern District of Texas.

10. Mihir Patel admits and agrees, that from in or about July 2019, through in
or about November 2019, Mihir Patel, conspiring with codefendants Prateek Desai,
Kinjal Patel, Wajahat Khan, Imran Khan, Chirag Gandhi, Bhargav Bhatt, and Bhavesh
Patel, obtained, and attempted to obtain, loan proceeds on behalf of a purported recycling
company by submitting, and causing to be submitted, to a financial institution two false
and fraudulent line of credit applications.

11. Specifically, Mihir Patel admits that he and his coconspirators prepared two
line of credit applications on behalf of Level Hight that falsely inflated the recycling
company’s revenue and assets, and subsequently caused these fraudulent line of credit
requests to be submitted to Spectra Bank.

12. M*éhir Patel admits that he conspired with codefendant Bhavesh Patel to
create false financial reports that misrepresented Level Eight’s operations. These false
documents were subsequently submitted to Spectra Bank in support of Level Eight’s

fraudulent line of credit requests.

Factual Resume—Page 5
Case 3:23-cr-00252-K Document152 - Filed07/22/24 Page6of9 PagelD 416

13. Mihir Patel admits that, as a result of these false line of credit requests, he
caused Spectra Bank to fund the line of credit identified in Exhibit A.

14. | Mihir Patel admits that, as a result of the fraudulent PPP loan applications
and line of credit requests described above, he caused losses not greater than $3,500,000.

The Business Loan Fraud

15. Mihir Patel agrees that IncredibleBank and First United Bank and Trust
Company (‘First United Bank”) were financial institutions, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 20,
whose deposits were insured by the FDIC. He agrees that IncredibleBank and First
United Bank were located in the Northern District of Texas.

16. Mihir Patel admits and agrees that, from in or about July 2019, through in |
ot about April 2023, he obtained, and attempted to obtain, business loan proceeds on
behalf of certain recycling companies by submitting, and causing to be submitted, to
various financial institutions false and fraudulent applications for business loans.

17. Specifically, Mihir Patel admits that he prepared business loan applications
that falsely described how the recycling companies intended to use the loan proceeds, and
subsequently caused these fraudulent applications to be submitted to Dominion Bank,
IncredibleBank, and First United Bank.

18. Mihir Patel admits that he also created estimate and payoff documentation
that falsely described the recycling companies’ intended use of the loan funds, as well as
a personal financial statement that falsely described Mihir Patel’s financial obligations
and his ownership of certain recycling companies. Mihir Patel admits that he and Prateek

Desai subsequently caused these false documents to be submitted to Dominion Bank,

Factual Resume—Page 6
IncredibleBank, and First United Bank in support of the recycling companies’ fraudulent
business loan applications.

19. Mihir Patel admits that, as a result of these fraudulent loan applications, he
and Prateek Desai caused Dominion Bank, IncredibleBank, and First United Bank to fund
the business loans identified in Exhibit A. These business loans involved pledged
collateral.

20. Mihir Patel also admits that, after First United Bank funded one these
business loans, Mihir Patel spent a portion of the loan proceeds to purchase an Audemars
Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph watch, which he agrees to forfeit to the
United States government.

21. The defendant agrees that the defendant committed all the essential
elements of the offense. This factual resume is not intended to be a complete accounting
of all the facts and events related to the offense charged in this case. The limited purpose
of this statement of facts is to demonstrate that a factual basis exists to support the

defendant’s guilty plea to Count One of the indictment.

[the remainder of this page left intentionally blank]

Factual Resume—Page 7
Case 3:23-cr-00252-K Document152- Filed07/22/24 Page8of9 PagelD 418

AGREED TO AND STIPULATED on this ? Z day of _Yul , 2024.

LEIGHA SIMONTON
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

Defendant Assistant United States Attorney
Texas Bar No. 24116828

1100 Commerce Street, Third Floor
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

STEVE FAHEY 4) Tel: 214-659-8600
Attorney for Defen Fax: 214-659-8809
. Email: ryan.niedermair@usdoj.gov
SID MODY //
Attorney for Defendant

Factual Resume—Page 8
Case 3:23-cr-00252-K Document 152

Factual Resume—Page 9

Filed 07/22/24 Page9of9
EXHIBIT A
Financial Institution | PPP Loan Number
American Bank 5243578201
American Bank 4331308305
Celtic Bank 4590637308 ©
One World Bank 4868988604
One World Bank 8089337306
Midwest Regional
Bank 4683297203
Midwest Regional
Bank 4008408409
Happy State Bank 7222757200
Happy State Bank 2307177308
Happy State Bank 2780167300
Carter FCU 2019267404
Dominion Bank 8867967206
Dominion Bank 8832037209
Dominion Bank 4330257305
Financial Institution | Le of Credit
Number
Spectra Bank 33547

Financial Institution

Business Loan

Number
Incredible Bank 8667888
Dominion Bank 50011110
First United Bank 403378581
First United Bank 403378615
First United Bank 403378623
First United Bank 403378649
First United Bank 403417215
First United Bank 403417223
First United Bank 403417678
First United Bank 403417686
First United Bank 403417694
First United Bank 403424005

PagelD 419


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