A federal jury convicted two men last week for running a luxurycar loan fraud scheme that led to more than $850,000 in losses at three Illinois credit unions and one inVirginia, Chicago federal prosecutors said.

Precious W. House, 47, of Chicago, was convicted by a federaljury Thursday on five counts of bank fraud. Brian K. Hughes, 41, ofHomewood, Ill. was also convicted on four counts of bank fraud andone count of making false statements on a loan application.

From February to November 2013, House and Hughes recruitedindividuals seeking loans and agreed to find loans for them inexchange for a fee of 20% to 30% of the loan. They obtained atleast 36 automobile loans of the 51 total sought on behalf of theapplicants, and fraudulently obtained approximately $1.12 millionof the total $1.6 million for which they applied, according tocourt documents.

Federal prosecutors said House and Hughes stole $853,000 in fakecar loans from the $639 million GreatLakes Credit Union in Bannockburn, Ill., the $17 billionPentagonFederal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va., the $20 millionSherwin-Williams Employees Credit Union in South Holland, Ill., andthe $746 million Credit Union 1 in Rantoul, Ill.

House and Hughes coerced loan applicants to make falserepresentations in documents such as loan applications, vehiclepurchase orders and employment verifications. The false statementsconcerned the applicants' income, employment, credit history,intent to use the loan proceeds to purchase automobiles and theexistence of contracts obligating the borrowers to purchasevehicles from House.

Federal prosecutors said the purchase orders falsely representedthat the loan applicants had contracts to purchase various luxuryvehicles made by BMW, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz,Nissan and Porsche from House's dealership.

If the applicants refused to cash checks obtained in the fraudscheme, Hughes threatened them with civil lawsuits and criminalprosecutions. House then deposited the loan funds into bankaccounts he controlled in Illinois, California and Georgia.

Two other defendants who were involved in the loan schemepleaded guilty earlier.

Keith B. Foster, 46, of Harvey, Ill. pleaded guilty in October2014 to one count of making false statements on a loan application.He was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Crystal Williams, 31, ofDecatur, Ga., pleaded guilty in September 2014 to one count of bankfraud. She will be sentenced later, according to federalprosecutors.