James Collins, the former chief executive officer of a subprime auto lending firm located in suburban Chicago, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement in fraudulent activities that resulted in losses of approximately $67 million for his victims.
From 2015 to 2018, Collins led Honor Finance LLC with apparent authority until investigations revealed his deceptive practices regarding bank funds and investment offerings linked to subprime auto loans.
Collins’s fraudulent activities included the operation of a shell company named LHS Solutions, which he used to artificially inflate the prices of GPS devices, causing Honor Finance to incur excessive costs. Additionally, he was reportedly involved in misappropriating commissions from vehicle warranty sales.
In 2023, Collins pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and admitted to committing bank fraud.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Franklin W. Valderrama ordered Collins to serve his sentence and mandated that he repay the defrauded amount of roughly $67 million, as detailed in a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
The investigation that uncovered this elaborate scheme was led by Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, with significant support from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Getter and Paige A. Nutini were instrumental in ensuring that justice was served.
