Riverwoods Businessman Gets 3 Years In Prison For Bank Fraud: Feds

CHICAGO — A Riverwoods businessman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison, and owes nearly $3 million in restitution, for a bank fraud charge. Yale Schiff, 50, who pleaded guilty to the charge in 2023, reportedly fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in mortgage and vehicle loans and using stolen identities to secure credit from financial institutions.

In addition to the prison sentence, a U.S. District judge on Jan. 16 ordered Schiff to pay $2,955,954 in restitution.

Schiff's brother, Jason Schiff, of Lincolnwood, as well as a business associate, David Izsak, of Chicago, were charged as part of the federal investigation. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Jason Schiff pleaded guilty to causing a false report and statement to be made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $306,610 in restitution. A jury convicted Izsak on 10 counts of financial institution fraud. He is awaiting sentencing.

Yale Schiff fraudulently obtained mortgage loans, vehicle loans, lines of credit, and credit cards by making false statements to financial institutions regarding his employment, income, and encumbrances on the collateral he pledged for the loans. Prosecutors said that after obtaining these loans, Schiff would file false documents with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, causing the fraudulent release of the liens. He then pocketed the loan proceeds, causing losses to the lenders. Schiff used the same mortgaged properties for multiple loans, each time fraudulently removing the lien and keeping the proceeds.

According to court documents, Schiff used various false and stolen identities to carry out his fraud scheme. He reportedly bought vehicles under the false identities and fraudulently removed liens on the cars before selling them for a profit. Schiff also opened bank accounts and lines of credit using the false identities and other aliases, funding the accounts with advances from other fraudulently obtained lines of credit and credit cards.

Schiff used a credit card issued in the name of an elderly woman whom he knew was in a memory care facility at the time, and in another instance he used a credit card issued in the name of a friend who had passed away, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.