Maryland Man Indicted for $35 Million Bank Fraud Scheme

MINNEAPOLIS - A Maryland man has been indicted for his role in a $35 million bank fraud conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, from September 2020 through October 2021, Karl Reid Selle, 38, of Bowie, Maryland, conspired with Matthew Thomas Onofrio to devise and execute a scheme to defraud federally-insured banks and credit unions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. As part of the scheme, Onofrio, who operated a business entity called Northwoods Management LLC, marketed a program for investors to acquire commercial real estate located in various states. Onofrio, or his business entity, would cause false information to be submitted to lenders financing investors' real estate purchases and in some cases altered purchase agreements to support higher appraisals of the properties. The indictment also alleges that part of the scheme was to withhold information from the lenders, including the fact that Onofrio made loans to investors to help them purchase the properties and that the loans constituted liabilities that should be disclosed in a loan application.

The indictment charges Selle with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on October 8, 2024, before Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert M. Lewis is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.