Mont Vernon Attorney Convicted of Engaging in Multimillion Dollar Fraud Scheme
DEC 27, 2021 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: DEC 29, 2021
ORDER
On March 8, 2022, I entered a preliminary order of forfeiture of the defendant’s interest, if any, up to $58,145.22 in the property located at 2 Daland Circle, Mont Vernon, New Hampshire.
The defendant’s spouse, Laurie Foistner, subsequently filed a petition asserting an interest in the property subject to forfeiture.
Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2, the clerk shall open an ancillary proceeding to determine Laurie Foistner’s interest in the 2 Daland Circle property.
The clerk shall also schedule a hearing on the defendant’s motion to reconsider and set a scheduling conference for the ancillary proceeding.
April 14, 2022
cc: Joseph A. Foistner, pro se Counsel of Record
U.S. Marshal
U.S. Probation
U.S. District Court
District of New Hampshire (Concord)
CRIMINAL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:18-cr-00098-PB-1
| Case title: USA v. Foistner | Date Filed: 06/27/2018 |
| Date Filed | # | Docket Text |
|---|---|---|
| 01/19/2022 | 160 | OBJECTION by USA as to Joseph A. Foistner re 158 MOTION for New Trial . (Rombeau, Charles) (Entered: 01/19/2022) |
| 02/04/2022 | 161 | MOTION for Forfeiture of Defendant’s Interest in 2 Daland Circle (Motion for Preliminary Order) by USA as to Joseph A. Foistner.Follow up on Objection on 2/18/2022. The court only follow up date DOES NOT include 3 additional days that may apply per FRCP 6(d) and FRCrP 45(c). (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order Preliminary Order of Forfeiture) (Chen, Alexander) (Entered: 02/04/2022) |
| 02/16/2022 | 162 | OBJECTION by Joseph A. Foistner re 161 MOTION for Forfeiture of Defendant’s Interest in 2 Daland Circle (Motion for Preliminary Order). (Attachments: # 1 Attachments, # 2 Attachments)(js) (Entered: 02/16/2022) |
| 03/05/2022 | 164 |
Assented to MOTION to Continue Sentencing Hearing for Approximately 45 Days by Joseph A. Foistner. (Guerriero, Richard) (Entered: 03/05/2022) |
| 03/08/2022 | 165 | ORDER granting 161 MOTION for Forfeiture of Defendant’s Interest in 2 Daland Circle (Motion for Preliminary Order) as to Joseph A. Foistner (1). So Ordered by Judge Paul J. Barbadoro. (js) (Entered: 03/08/2022) |
| 03/08/2022 | 166 | PRELIMINARY ORDER OF FORFEITURE as to Joseph A. Foistner. So Ordered by Judge Paul J. Barbadoro. (js) (Entered: 03/08/2022) |
ASSENTED-TO MOTION TO CONTINUE SENTENCING HEARING
The defense requests, with the assent of the government, to continue the sentencing hearing currently scheduled for April 7, 2022, to a date approximately 45 days later, for the reasons set forth below:
1. After a bench trial in which he represented himself, with standby counsel, the defendant, Joseph Foistner, was convicted of 9 criminal charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statements in bankruptcy proceedings.
2. The undersigned was standby counsel during the trial and was appointed after the trial as full counsel for Mr. Foister for the purposes of sentencing. Mr. Foistner requested and accepted the appointment.
3. As the court and government are aware, Mr. Foistner has a number of medical issues. The nature and impact of those medical issues has been the subject of some discussion, if not dispute, throughout the case.
4. Since being appointed for sentencing, the defense has worked to get a sufficient set of medical records to have a full picture of Mr. Foistner’s current health. So far, the defense has received 572 pages of medical records from four sources. There is at least one additional significant source of records. Those have been requested and the defense expects to receive those in the near future but not in sufficient time to prepare for the sentencing hearing a month from now.
5. The defense also seeks to have an expert review Mr. Foistner’s medical issues for the purpose of giving an opinion, in a report and possibly testimony, regarding how incarceration would affect Mr. Foistner’s medical condition. Counsel seeks an opportunity to have that expert review all of the medical records, when they are available, in order to provide that assistance. After that, of course, the government will be entitled to an opportunity to review the report and seek its own expert if it so desires.
6. The foregoing steps are necessary for the defense to make an effective sentencing presentation and for the court to have the information it needs to impose a fair and just sentence.
7. After discussion of the foregoing, counsel for the government stated their assent to the requested continuance of 45 days.
8. Mr. Foistner is in agreement with this request as well.
WHEREFORE, the defense requests that the sentencing hearing currently scheduled for April 7, 2022, be rescheduled to a date approximately 45 days thereafter.
Respectfully submitted, this 5th day of March, 2022, by counsel for the defendant,
/s/ Richard Guerriero
Richard Guerriero, Esq.
N.H. Bar ID. 10530
Lothstein Guerriero, PLLC
Chamberlain Block Building
39 Central Square, Suite 202
Keene, NH 03431
Telephone: (603) 352-5000
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that this document, filed through the ECF system, will be sent electronically to the registered Participants as identified on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) and paper copies will be sent to those indicated as nonregistered participants on the date the document was signed by me.
/s/ Richard Guerriero
CONCORD – Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced that Joseph A. Foistner, 67, of Mont Vernon, was found guilty on Thursday of four counts of bank fraud, as well as charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and making misrepresentations during bankruptcy proceedings.
The verdict was returned by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro on Thursday, December 23, 2021, following a two-week bench trial.
According to exhibits and witness testimony during the trial, Foistner used fraudulent means to apply for over $8 million in loans from five different financial institutions, laundered money, and made material misrepresentations during bankruptcy proceedings between 2015 and 2018.
Foistner, at the time of the scheme, was a licensed attorney in Massachusetts.
He did not have any paying clients and earned no income through his law firm. In order to obtain millions of dollars in loans from multiple financial institutions, Foistner provided banks with misleading documents that suggested that he was operating a lucrative law firm.
For example, he claimed that he was a “seasoned attorney” with international clients and that his firm earned over a million dollars in annual income.
In fact, all the firm’s purported income was based upon bogus, unpaid invoices the firm submitted to entities that the defendant controlled, including bankrupt entities.
The defendant also made other false statements to obtain bank loans, including lying about whether he was involved as a party to any lawsuits and denying that he had an interest in other companies.
He also falsely represented that he had a salary by mischaracterizing loan proceeds as a salary.
In one of the bank fraud schemes, the defendant submitted false information to obtain a loan by claiming falsely that his wife was earning over $200,000 per year as a paralegal.
Each of the loans made to Foistner were backed by either the Department of the Veterans Affairs or the Small Business Administration.
The evidence further showed that Foistner committed several crimes during Chapter 7 bankruptcy court proceedings in 2017 and 2018. He made false representations by falsely denying that he held or controlled property owned by others when he actually controlled funds that were held in the name of a business.
He also made false statements under oath by lying about what happened to the proceeds of one of the fraudulent loans and lying about not knowing the location of a piece of real estate that had been purchased in part with funds he borrowed and had subsequently funneled into bank accounts not in his name.
Foistner is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4, 2022.
“While no one is entitled to commit fraud, this defendant’s crimes were particularly egregious because they were committed by an attorney,”
said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley.
“The evidence in this case demonstrated that Foistner engaged in a shocking pattern of fraudulent and deceitful conduct to obtain millions of dollars from financial institutions and that he told a host of lies in his efforts to further his scheme and cover his tracks during bankruptcy proceedings.
With this guilty verdict, Foistner finally is being held accountable for his lengthy pattern of lying and manipulation.
I am grateful to all of the federal agents and prosecutors who worked hard to investigate and prosecute this significant fraud case.”
“Joseph Foistner took advantage of programs that were designed to help veterans achieve home ownership, and small businesses expand and develop. In fraudulently collecting millions of dollars, his lies and deceit have not only hurt himself, but every citizen whose tax dollars support these federally funded programs,”
said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
“The FBI is determined to work with our partners to hold anyone who commits such fraud accountable.”
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Office of Inspector General of the Small Business Administration.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles L. Rombeau, Seth R. Aframe and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kinsella, Assistant U.S. Attorneys John S. Davis and Kasey Weiland previously worked on this matter.
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