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Suburban men charged in vehicle loan fraud scheme

Ten people, including several with ties to the suburbs, have been charged in a nationwide vehicle financing fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

A former suburban motorcycle and RV dealer and his accountant were indicted on charges that they bilked about 20 lenders out of more than $56 million.

Prosecutors said Russell S. Ott, 50, of Oswego, who once had ownership interests in motorcycle and RV dealerships in Libertyville, fraudulently obtained more than $31.3 million in loans from Fifth Third Bank. Ott is charged in the financing scheme along with his Naperville accountant, Brian McMahon, 54.

In addition to the business loans, Ott is accused of enlisting eight other defendants from around the country to obtain fraudulent loans to purchase vehicles that didn’t actually exist, “usually very expensive RVs,” prosecutors said.

Andrew Stacy, 51, of Elburn, and F. Peter Mignin, 63, of Geneva, are among those charged in this aspect of the alleged crime, according to the indictment.

A federal grand jury indicted all 10 on various bank fraud and tax evasion charges Wednesday. Each person is facing a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted of bank fraud and could be fined as much as $1 million, authorities said.

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