William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an indictment charging Gerald R. Salupo with one count of bank fraud. Salupo, age 54, resides in Brecksville, Ohio.
The indictment alleges that Salupo and his businesses, J&M Salupo Development Company, Inc. and JDS Salupo Ltd., obtained a $3 million commercial loan from Republic Bank in July 1999 to fund construction in the Fox Meadows Development in Medina, Ohio. The indictment further alleges that Salupo rented a house in that development and, subsequently, the tenant wanted to purchase the property for cash plus an exchange of property the tenant owned in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. The indictment charges that Salupo contacted Republic Bank to see if it would substitute the Sheffield Lake property as collateral for the loan on the Medina property, but the bank declined. The indictment alleges that, on or about October 3, 2003, Salupo prepared a fraudulent Satisfaction of Mortgage and caused it to be filed with the Medina County Recorder’s Office. The indictment further alleges that this document falsely represented that Republic Bank’s mortgage on the Medina property had been paid in full. The indictment charges that, as a result of Salupo’s fraudulent conduct, Republic Bank sustained a loss of $407,000.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John D. Sammon following an investigation by the Akron Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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