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An Easthampton attorney pleaded guilty last week in Springfield federal court to numerous financial fraud charges, including schemes to defraud commercial lenders.
Phillip R. Williams, pleaded guilty on Dec. 3 to 15 counts of wire fraud, two counts of engaging in financial transactions greater than $10,000 of proceeds derived from criminal activity, six counts of money laundering and two counts of tax fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for March 26, 2020.
Williams, a licensed attorney, held client funds in trust accounts at Bank of America, TD Bank and Easthampton Savings Bank, requiring fiduciary responsibility for the exclusive benefit of his clients. According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office and court documents, Williams’ schemes began in 2014 after two clients transferred funds into the Bank of America trust account to obtain a bank loan. Williams transferred more than $450,000 of these funds to his own bank, credit card and brokerage accounts.
In another scheme, a third client deposited a total of $230,500 between 2015 and 2017 to the three trust accounts with the intent of buying land. Williams never purchased the land for his client, using the funds instead for various personal transactions. Williams sent emails to the client that falsely indicated that he had used the money to purchase land.
Williams also fraudulently obtained loans in the name of this client and his company from two commercial lenders in 2017 and 2018, ProBuilder Financial and Velocity Commercial Capital. Williams falsely witnessed or notarized the forged signature of the client to obtain the loans. The client did not know about the fraudulent applications. One of the lenders provided a total of $340,000, and the other lent a total of $334,000. Williams received four wire transfers of loan proceeds to his bank accounts of about $380,000, which he spent for his own personal use.
After ProBuilder sought repayment of its loans, Williams sent fraudulent emails with documents containing forged signatures, including a mortgage on his home with his ex-wife’s falsely notarized and forged signature, a false pre-approval letter from Easthampton Savings Bank for a loan to his mother with a bank officer’s forged signature, and a false power of attorney with the forged signature of the client.
Lastly, Williams attempted between Jan. 16, and March 2 to defraud three other commercial lenders – Triumph Capital Partners, JCAP Private Lending and EMCAP – by obtaining loans of $1.365 million, $1.35 million, and $1.7 million to purchase a property at 858 Huntington Ave. in Boston. Two of the loans were requested on behalf of the client whose name and business had been used to obtain the other commercial loans. These loans were rejected because additional paperwork or payments were not provided. Williams requested a third loan on his own behalf that was initially approved and then rejected because of his credit score.
Williams also defrauded a private investment firm of approximately $1.1 million between Feb. 1, and March 31, and attempted to defraud another private investment firm of approximately $1.2 million, both concerning his purchase of property in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
The charges of wire fraud and money laundering provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges of engaging in financial transactions greater than $10,000 provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges of tax fraud provide for a sentence of up to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $100,000.
