California man gets 78 months for $39 million bank fraud scheme

Gary Topolewski, 64, of Northridge, California, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release for orchestrating a bank fraud scheme that took in more than $39 million from multiple financial institutions over nearly a decade, according to the Justice Department. He was also ordered to pay more than $19.4 million in restitution and $21.8 million in forfeiture.

According to court documents, Topolewski defrauded multiple financial institutions by submitting false and fraudulent commercial loan applications on behalf of his purported companies — Topolewski America Inc., Morrison Knudsen Services Inc., and Metal Jeans Inc. Those entities received more than $39 million in fraudulently obtained loan proceeds, court documents state, with Topolewski unsuccessfully seeking millions more.

Topolewski falsely claimed in the loan applications that the funds would be used to purchase large industrial earth-moving construction equipment and for business working capital, according to court documents. In reality, prosecutors said, Topolewski and his companies diverted, laundered and misappropriated the proceeds for other purposes, including purchasing properties and making Ponzi-like payments to financial lenders by using proceeds from newer loans to pay down balances on older loans and perpetuate the scheme. Topolewski also used several aliases, including the stolen identity of a victim, along with company names designed to resemble those of established construction and equipment companies, according to court documents.

Topolewski pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of bank fraud, according to the Justice Department.

The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office.

The FBI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Sara Hallmark of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Lopez for the District of Nevada prosecuted the case.