Matthew Thomas Onofrio, a 34-year-old resident of Plymouth, Minnesota, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for orchestrating a large-scale bank fraud scheme that resulted in more than $420 million in fraudulent loans. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
According to court documents and statements from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Onofrio, who worked as a nurse anesthetist and also invested in real estate, created an investment program between 2020 and 2022. Through this program, he entered into purchase agreements for commercial properties and then assigned these agreements to inexperienced investors at significantly inflated prices.
Onofrio instructed his investors on how to provide false information to banks in order to secure loans they otherwise could not afford. He also promoted his financial success and investment strategies on professional networking platforms and appeared on the “Bigger Pockets” podcast, where he gained a reputation among aspiring real estate investors.
To make it appear that his investors had sufficient funds for down payments—typically around 30% of the property price—Onofrio helped them prepare fraudulent personal finance statements. He temporarily transferred money into their accounts when banks requested proof of funds and advised them to misrepresent the source of these funds if questioned by lenders. Additionally, Onofrio would loan money to investors for down payments without recording these loans on financial statements or as second mortgages, keeping this information hidden from the banks.
Over two years, Onofrio facilitated 68 deals involving more than $420 million in bank loans obtained through fraudulent means. Before being apprehended, he personally profited by at least $35 million from the scheme.
U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson sentenced Onofrio to 36 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay over $5.3 million in restitution. In her remarks during sentencing, Judge Nelson described Onofrio as the “ringleader and architect of a vast bank fraud.” She added: “I want to send a message to other would-be fraudsters that there is no such thing as a get-rich-quick-scheme—at least not a legal one.”
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the FBI, IRS, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Murphy prosecuted the case.
