CLEVELAND—A man found guilty of playing a small role in the fraud that led to the collapse of St. Paul Croatian Credit Union was sentenced to “bankers’ hours” by a judge here.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko told Judmir Capoj, who works as a truck driver, that he felt Capoj put too much trust into Gezim Selgjekaj, a former business partner whom a jury had earlier found guilty of conspiring to receive more than $10.5 million in fraudulent loans from St. Paul Croatian, according to Cleveland.com.
Capoj pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of making false statements to a financial institution for asking for $154,610. He lied on the loan application forms by saying the loans were for the Eastside Farmers Market in Wickliffe, which Selgjekaj owned, even though the money was for other business affairs, Cleveland.com reported.
The judge was quoted by Cleveland.com as saying, "There's not a lot to say other than I think you're a good guy. If I had to take all my possessions across the country, I'd want you as a truck driver."
Capoj cooperated with prosecutors and testified against Selgjekaj. The U.S. Probation Office gave him credit for his cooperation when recommending a prison stint of eight to 14 months. Boyko, however, handed down the one-day sentence, and said Capoj would only have to go in between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. After being told he could serve his time anytime in the next 30 days, Capoj elected to get it over with at the end of the hearing and turned himself in.
Capoj will be on supervised release for two years. He also has to pay back the amount of the fraudulent loans as restitution.
St. Paul Croatian FCU, the largest natural-person credit union failure in history, was shut down in 2010.