Dennis RomeroThe front man of an L.A. band called Lights Over Paris was living the rock-star life.
Unfortunately, authorities allege, Robert Brandon Mawhinney was doing so by using fake documents to get more than $6 million in fraudulent loans that he “used to fund his band and his lavish lifestyle,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
And so …
… Mawhinney, 30, was ordered by a judge yesterday to be held without bond because, federal prosecutors argued, he traveled abroad frequently and stashed hundreds of thousands of ill gotten gains in Cyprus.
In fact, Mawhinney, who goes by the stage name Robb “TaLLLLL” University, was nabbed at Miami International Airport earlier this month following a trip to Buenos Aires, authorities said. He was returned to L.A. to face the music.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he presented faked paperwork showing $8 million in brokerage assets, even though the original papers showed he had $10,000 in those accounts.
As a result, they allege, Mawhinney swindled $6.25 million from Comerica Bank. Other victims, feds said, included Morgan Chase, Zions Bank and Bank of America.
The U.S. Attorney's Office:
According to investigators, Mawhinney used the money from the Comerica loans and loans from other banks to pay for travel, entertainment and a luxury tour bus that cost well over $750,000.
Rock 'n' roll.
Credit: Lights Over Paris / Facebook
Mawhinney, who feds say lives in the luxury WaterMarke Tower in downtown, is charged with making a false statement on a loan application and could face 30 years behind bars if convicted. His arraignment was set for Feb. 11.
In a related case, feds say the owners of Burbank-based Matt Salazar Recording Productions did the same thing, using fake documents to get $1.7 million in loans from Bank of America, Greystone Bank and Huntington National Bank for their own music business.
Prosecutors allege Mawhinney also used that studio, saying the Salazar brothers' facilities was his own in order to get a loan.
The brothers — Matt Salazar, 29, of Valley Village, and Jason Salazar, 28, of Grover Beach and Fresno — were expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit loan fraud as part of a deal that could put them behind bars for five years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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