Former Riverside Square Developer Sentenced for Bank Fraud

A former Algonquin man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison in a bank fraud scheme that lead to the collapse of the Riverside Square commercial and residential project in Algonquin.

Bruce Hawkins, who currently lives in Denver, owned Aspen Homebuilders, Inc., when the federal charges were brought against him in 2012, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. Hawkins, who pleaded guilty in January, was also ordered last week to pay $1,017,183 in restitution.

Hawkins is accused of defrauding Amcore Bank of more than $1 million from the proceeds of the $13.5 million Riverside Square project. In September 2006, acting through Riverside Square, LLC, Hawkins obtained the bank loan to finance the construction of Riverside Square, located at 1100 West Algonquin Road, according to the news release.

Between January 2007 and June 2008, Hawkins fraudulently obtained slightly more than $1 million in loan proceeds from the bank by submitting false contractor statements, waiver of liens, and contract invoices that requested funds purportedly for village permits, construction work, and consulting work for the development, according to the DOJ.

To obtain funds from the bank loan, Hawkins submitted false contractor statements to the bank in which he verified that subcontractors and his company were owed funds for work performed on Riverside Square, according to the news release.

Hawkins submitted, and caused the submission of, false lien waivers and invoices for work performed to the title company, which was designated by Amcore Bank to keep and disburse funds for the project. After these documents were submitted, the bank authorized the title company to disburse funds to Hawkins and the subcontractors, according to the news release.