Gregory Hite and Bridget Bureau, both from Lake in Clare County, were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in defrauding nearly 40 victims of millions of dollars in a long-running fraud and identity theft scheme.
Hite and Bureau, a married couple, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and unlawfully using the identities of others to fraudulently obtain financing for their former west Michigan businesses. Those businesses operated under several names, including Hites RV, Alpine Trailer Sales, Great Lakes Recreational, Great Lakes Trailer, GLR Transport, and Great Lakes Trailer Manufacturing.
Between 2016 and 2020, the defendants used false identities to obtain $5,443,982 in loans. The defendants made materially false statements on loan/equipment financing documents, unlawfully used other people’s identities to obtain financing they could not get on their own, impersonated those victims on phone calls with other victims, and used multiple limited liability companies to facilitate and conceal their fraudulent conduct.
The fraud scheme collapsed when the defendants ran out of money and lenders began seeking repayment from the identity theft victims.
U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney sentenced Hite to serve 150 months in prison and Bureau to serve to 51 months in prison. Both defendants were ordered to pay $1,952,186 in restitution to their victims.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case.