Columbia, South Carolina---- Acting United States Attorney Kevin F. McDonald stated that Floyd Hargrove, age 39, of Beaufort, South Carolina, and William Toadvine, age 32, of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, were sentenced in federal court in Charleston for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. Senior United States District Judge Sol Blatt, Jr., sentenced each defendant to 40 months imprisonment and ordered them to pay $421,014 in restitution.
From 2003 through 2005, Hargrove and Toadvine owned and operated the Car Connection, a used car business in Beaufort. They admitted misleading lenders that were making car loans to Car Connection customers by presenting false loan applications on behalf of the customers. Specifically, Hargrove and Toadvine exaggerated their customers' income or minimized their debt, so they would qualify for loans. Hargrove and Toadvine also falsified the mileage of the used cars, which overstated the value of the loan collateral. Many of the car loans that Hargrove and Thomas processed were not repaid, resulting in losses of approximately $421,014 to various financial institutions.
The case was investigated by agents of the Internal Revenue Service -Criminal Investigation, and the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs. Assistant United States Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.
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