Plymouth Nurse Anesthetist Gets 3 Years for $420M Bank Fraud Scheme

(KNSI) – A Plymouth man who posed as a real estate guru while orchestrating one of the largest bank fraud schemes in recent Minnesota history has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Matthew Thomas Onofrio, a nurse anesthetist turned real estate investor, received his sentence this week after admitting to completing 68 fake deals totaling more than $420 million in fraudulent bank loans over a two-year period. He personally netted at least $35.7 million before federal authorities caught up with him. The fraud touched properties across Minnesota, including commercial real estate in Sauk Centre and St. Cloud.

Many of the 34-year-old’s investors defaulted on their promissory notes following his indictment, leaving banks and other lenders in the lurch. In addition to his prison term, Judge Nelson ordered Onofrio to serve two years of supervised release after completing his sentence. and he must pay $5.4 million in restitution.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who handed down the sentence, described Onofrio as the “ringleader and architect of a vast bank fraud” and said she wanted to send a clear message to potential fraudsters. “There is no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme-at least not a legal one,” Judge Nelson said from the bench.

Between 2020 and 2022, Onofrio created an elaborate real estate investment program that preyed on new investors eager to break into commercial property markets. Onofrio would secure purchase agreements for commercial properties, then assign them to inexperienced investors at highly inflated prices.

The scheme relied on systematic deception of lending institutions. Onofrio’s investors typically lacked the capital, usually 30% of the purchase price, needed to buy the multi-million-dollar properties. To overcome this obstacle, Onofrio coached his clients to lie to banks and helped them fabricate financial documents.

Court documents reveal Onofrio’s methods included preparing fraudulent personal financial statements that falsely showed investors had sufficient funding for down payments. When banks requested proof of funds, Onofrio would temporarily wire money into investors’ accounts to create the appearance of liquidity. He instructed investors to claim the funds came from family money or other investments.

In other cases, Onofrio loaned investors money for down payments but deliberately concealed these loans from banks by omitting them from financial statements and failing to record promissory notes as second mortgages.

Onofrio cultivated his image as a real estate expert through social media and professional networking platforms. He appeared on popular podcasts for aspiring real estate investors, and promoted his strategies in online professional groups. This marketing helped him develop a reputation as a real estate prodigy, attracting a steady stream of new investors to his scheme.

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