NEW YORK -- A Democratic fundraiser was found guilty Friday of engineering a $21 million bank fraud scheme. Courtney Dupree was convicted of vastly overstating the billings of his Long Island City-based lighting company GDC Acquisitions in order to fraudulently obtain a loan from Amalgamated Bank.Dupree, 42, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read in Brooklyn Federal Court. He faces up to 30 years in prison and has to pay back at least $18 million.
Dupree was done in by a mountain of paperwork, which prosecutors said proved he was a crook, and by testimony from cooperating witnesses who were involved in the scheme.
"This is a case about lying to a bank to get money," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Woll told the jury during the trial. "It is about telling lies over and over again in order to grab millions of dollars of the bank's money."
Dupree, who attended the elite Wharton School of Business, was a rainmaker in Democratic circles. In 2008, Dupree hosted a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser for Barack Obama at his Broad St. apartment that was attended by top aide Valerie Jarrett.
His company counted NBC Universal and Goldman Sachs among its clients.