Pair get 40 months for bank fraud conspiracy

Two South Carolina men, including one from Mount Pleasant, were sentenced this week to 40 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to having presented false and misleading loan applications to lenders while operating a used-car lot in Beaufort.

Floyd Hargrove, 39, of Beaufort and William Toadvine, 32, of Mount Pleasant had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to Kevin F. McDonald, acting U.S attorney for South Carolina.

Senior U.S. District Judge Sol Blatt Jr. sentenced each defendant Tuesday to 40 months in prison and ordered them to pay $421,014 in restitution, McDonald said.

From 2003 through 2005, Hargrove and Toadvine owned and operated the Car Connection, McDonald said. They admitted misleading lenders that were making car loans to customers by presenting false loan applications on behalf of the customers. Hargrove and Toadvine exaggerated their customers' income or minimized their debt, so they would qualify for loans. Hargrove and Toadvine also falsified the mileage of the used cars, which overstated the value of the loan collateral.

Many of the loans that Hargrove and Toadvine processed were not repaid, resulting in losses of approximately $421,014 to various financial institutions.

The case was investigated by agents of the Internal Revenue Service and the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.