A Fresno man was sentenced on Monday to seven years and six months in prison for defrauding lenders and financial institutions out of more than $30 million, federal authorities said.

Matthew Dane Billingsley, 40, was convicted of wire fraud for a scheme that spanned nearly five years, during which he falsified brokerage account statements, forged signatures, and misrepresented the intended use of loan funds, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, between June 2018 and February 2023, Billingsley falsely claimed to have a brokerage account with millions of dollars in assets to secure loans. He provided fabricated account statements to obtain more than $30 million from individual lenders and financial institutions.

The statements were false because the brokerage account did not ex

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