A relative of a former Georgia congressman pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a case involving car sales in the Atlanta metro area, authorities said.
Philip Swindall, 50, of Duluth admitted to being involved in several schemes over the past decade. He is a half brother of former U.S. Rep. Pat Swindall, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Philip Swindall refused to answer Channel 2’s questions Monday as he walked out of the federal courthouse in Atlanta, released on bond until his sentencing Sept. 21.
The first scheme began in April 2004, when Philip Swindall took out $8.2 million in loans and lines of credit from SouthTrust Bank, now Wells Fargo Bank, for his Atlanta Chrysler Dodge dealership, prosecutors said.
By the summer of 2005, Swindall was more than $3.5 million in debt. Swindall claimed most of the debts were due to slow payments from a fleet customer. Auditors determined that the fleet customer had paid Swindall, but Swindall had not paid the bank, prosecutors said.
“Swindall had in fact used the $3.5 million so he could operate another dealership, pay off his credit cards (and) live a high-end lifestyle for himself and his family including foreign vacations, household expenses and household employees,” prosecutors said in a news release.
The bank and a Colorado business partner who had put up $4.7 million in collateral lost more than $3.5 million, prosecutors said.
The second scheme began in 2009 when Swindall opened another dealership, Auto Tailor Inc., in Duluth. During the following year, he bought more than 30 cars from other dealers on consignment or by using insufficient fund checks. He then sold the cars to customers online through eBay.
“The evidence showed that Swindall pocketed over $490,000 and never provided the customers with title to the cars or paid the other dealers,” prosecutors said.
In a third scheme, in August 2009, Swindall used an employee's name and other personal information to take out a $175,000 loan, resulting in the identity theft charge, prosecutors said.
In June, Swindall was charged with 17 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of each charge.
Swindall could be sentenced to 52 years in prison and fined up to $1.5 million, prosecutors said. The case was investigated by the Duluth Police Department and the FBI.
Pat Swindall was elected in 1984 to represent Georgia's fourth Congressional District and served two terms.
In 1989, he was convicted of nine counts of perjury stemming from a money laundering case. Three of those convictions were later overturned on appeal. Pat Swindall served 8 1/2 months in a federal prison.
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