A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to four years in prison for orchestrating a $72 million fraud scheme involving two lenders. Joshua Coleman, 39, of North Wales, Pennsylvania, received a sentence of 48 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay more than $57 million in restitution by United States District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge.
Coleman pleaded guilty last September to four counts of wire fraud after being charged in August 2023. According to court documents and his own admissions, between August 2020 and June 2022, Coleman deceived two lenders into loaning about $72 million to companies he owned and controlled. He falsely claimed the funds would be used to purchase insurance companies. Of the total amount borrowed, only approximately $10.9 million went toward buying insurance companies; the rest was used for personal expenses, business debts, and other entities under his control.
Court filings reveal that one day after receiving around $25 million from one lender (referred to as Lender #1), Coleman wired about $20.2 million to former investment advisor clients and their associated entity. In May 2020, he had acknowledged using roughly $20 million of these clients’ assets without their knowledge or consent and agreed to repay them with interest. Most of Lender #1’s funds were thus used to pay back earlier investors whose money Coleman had misappropriated.
By late summer 2021, needing additional funds to repay debts and purchase two insurance companies, Coleman began negotiating with another lender (Lender #2). To secure the loan agreement by November 2, 2021, he was required to show that certain liens had been terminated. However, all four liens remained active at the time; Coleman submitted falsified lien termination forms and other critical documents in order to obtain approval for the loan.
Coleman ultimately received approximately $47.6 million from Lender #2—of which only about $10.9 million was spent on purchasing an insurance company. The remaining $36.8 million was diverted elsewhere: most notably about $11.5 million was used from Lender #2’s funds to repay Lender #1.
“Coleman brazenly lied to his lenders, falsifying documents and forging signatures to help conceal his scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Instead of using the funds as intended, he spent most of those millions paying off business debts and for personal expenses. My office will continue to target significant financial crimes like this and prosecute the fraudsters responsible.”
“This sentencing reflects our commitment to holding accountable those who seek personal profit through lies and deceit,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “Alongside our law enforcement partners, the FBI will continue our pursuit of those who orchestrate and execute complex financial fraud schemes.”
The case was investigated by the FBI along with the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General; support also came from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Assistant United States Attorneys Anita Eve and Francis Weber prosecuted the case.
In addition to criminal charges brought by federal prosecutors, civil charges have also been filed against Coleman by the SEC.
