Long Islander sentenced in $3.2M bank loan scheme

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A Long Islander was sentenced in federal court in Central Islip on Tuesday in a $3 million bank loan scheme, officials said.

Gary Confredo, also known as “Gary Conte,” the former operator of Goldstar Financial Management in Commack, was sentenced to 42 months in prison.

Confredo, of East Northport, had pleaded guilty in November of 2022 to a scheme involving defrauding Bank of America of more than $3.2 million in loans and lines of credit that were obtained under false pretenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New York’s Eastern District.

Confredo was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution to Bank of America.

“The defendant’s scheme of submitting fraudulent applications for commercial loans and lines of credit to Bank of America was full of lies and deception, so with today’s sentence the defendant learns a powerful truth, that cheating financial institutions for personal gain will be punished and the cost is significant,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a written statement.

“As a financial consultant, Confredo was a trusted member of the financial industry. However, instead of acting ethically, he used his position to submit fraudulent loan applications on his clients’ behalf … [m]any of whom were complicit in this scheme,” Daniel Brubaker, inspector-in-charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, New York Division, said in a written statement. “Driven by greed, Confredo and these co-conspirators caused Bank of America to lose millions of dollars in defaulted loans. These crimes have a far-reaching and long-lasting negative impact on the financial industry and the American public.”

Records show that between November 2016 and October 2019, Confredo and others conspired to submit fraudulent applications for commercial loans and lines of credit to Bank of America on behalf of Goldstar clients. These clients had agreed to pay Confredo a portion of any loan that he secured on their behalf.

Officials said that Confredo then submitted altered tax returns and bank statements that falsely inflated the clients’ incomes and assets and allowed them to qualify for loans and lines of credit under Bank of America’s lending criteria. As a result of the scheme, Bank of America issued approximately $3.2 million in loans and lines of credit to Goldstar’s clients and sustained losses of approximately $1 million when those loans and lines of credit were not repaid.