Millions in fraudulent loans paid for Alabama man’s private jet and Ferrari, feds say
Christopher A. Montalbano could afford a loan on a $100,000 Mastercraft wake boat. He did, after all, earn close to half a million dollars a year and had already paid $11,000 out of pocket for the boat — at least, that’s what the bank believed.
In reality, prosecutors said, the 38-year-old had just $10 in his bank account at the time.
Montalbano’s purported lavish lifestyle included a personal assistant, the lease on a new Lamborghini and trips on a private jet to the Caribbean, but it was actually an elaborate ruse, according to the government. He is accused of inflating his net worth and lying on loan applications to receive millions of dollars from 16 different banks over a five-year span.
“He personally used fraudulent loan proceeds to purchase and drive numerous luxury vehicles, two private jets, a home in a gated community, approximately 150 acres of farm land in Vincent, Alabama, and to generally live a life of luxury and extravagance,” the government said in court documents.
Montalbano pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and money laundering on Nov. 30, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Alabama said in a news release.
He agreed to a $10 million forfeiture order as part of the plea agreement and faces up to 40 years in prison when he’s sentenced March 1.
Montalbano has been in custody since his bond was revoked in September and could not be reached for comment. A defense attorney representing him did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Thursday, Dec. 2.
Montalbano and his father, 75-year-old Gus Anthony Montalbano, were indicted in July and arrested in their homes in Vestavia, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.
‘An extravagant lifestyle’
The alleged fraud dates to 2015 and continued until 2020, prosecutors said.
According to the plea agreement, Montalbano was the owner of or affiliated with at least 11 different shell companies in Alabama. Using those companies, as well as his own name and the names of co-conspirators, he is accused of applying for at least 140 fraudulent loans.
Montalbano obtained the loans under the guise that he needed financing for the purchase of luxury cars, boats, utility vehicles, recreational cars, aircrafts, farming and construction equipment, the government said.
He got permission from co-conspirators to use their name for loan applications, the plea agreement states, then co-mingled the funds among multiple bank accounts. Prosecutors said Montalbano used the money to make Ponzi scheme-like payments on other loans while also paying for personal items and living expenses.
“Montalbano specifically used the loan proceeds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle which included traveling on a private jet aircraft, employing private pilots, employing a personal assistant, purchasing multiple high-end vehicles including Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and purchasing multiple real properties, including a residential home in a gated community, a lake house, and farmland,” prosecutors said.
According to the agreement, the loan applications contained doctored tax forms, fake bank statements and made up vehicle and machinery registration numbers.
Montalbano is also accused of creating fake websites for some of his shell companies that featured pictures from the internet of equipment he claimed to be selling. Prosecutors said he went so far as to buy 150 acres of land in Vincent, Alabama, where one of the shell companies was purported to be located.
Montalbano then gated a private access road on the property, the government said, preventing lenders from verifying the shell company had the equipment it claimed to be selling.
Without physical evidence of the collateral, many of the lenders relied on the false documentation to supply Montalbano with the loans, the plea agreement states.
Accused of assaulting a witness
Montalbano was released after his initial arrest on a $50,000 bond, which a judge revoked after he was accused of assaulting a witness in the case on Sept. 1.
According to a police report filed by the Hoover Police Department and attached to the government’s motion to revoke his bond, Montalbano showed up “unannounced” at a baseball field to confront his former business partner and roommate. His business partner was reportedly at the field watching his nephew’s game.
Montalbano told him they “needed to talk immediately” and brought him over to his car, the report states. The business partner told a responding officer that Montalbano then “became upset and aggressive,” yanking him to the ground by his forearms when he tried to walk away.
According to the report, Montalbano “dragged him along the pavement” and a physical struggle ensued until the business partner was able to break free.
Montalbano’s lawyer has since asked the judge for his release, saying Montalbano and the witness he is accused of assaulting are “lifelong friends” and he had permission to speak with him as long as they didn’t discuss the case.
“There was no evidence presented at the revocation hearing that Montalbano assaulted (his former business partner) with the purpose of obstructing justice or for purposes of intimidating a witness,” his defense attorney said in court filings. “On the contrary, it appears from the context that the altercation was of a personal nature – unrelated to the criminal charges at bar.”
Prosecutors have opposed the request.
“Regardless of the context of the altercation, the simple fact remains that the Defendant assaulted a victim/witness and the FBI Agent testified that an independent third-party individual who witnessed the assault described the Defendant as attempting to drag the victim/witness into the Defendant’s vehicle,” the government said.
The judge has not yet issued a ruling on the motion.
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