ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) – An Ashburn, Virginia man was sentenced on Friday to 12 years (144 months) in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for operating a $53 million bank fraud throughout the United States, prosecutors said.

Osama El-Atari, 31, was sentenced on three counts of bank fraud and one count of money laundering and was also ordered to pay $53 million in restitution gained through his fraud scheme. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

“Osama El-Atari’s greed has earned him 12 years behind bars. Especially in today’s economy, we are committed to combating financial fraud and putting those who cheat the financial industry in prison,” said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride.

El-Atari admitted defrauding banks in Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee and Maryland. In order to accomplish his fraud he presented the banks with fraudulent life insurance policies as collateral to obtain loans.

The defendant used fake domain names, fake federal express mailings and fake e-mails in order to convince the banks that his collateral was authentic.

El-Atari used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase a multi-million dollar home in Ahsburn and several luxury cars like Lamborghinis and Ferraris. In May 2009, he fled the U.S. but was later captured in Texas last January.

“El-Atari defrauded banks for tens of millions of dollars and used his ill-gotten gains to purchase expensive homes and exotic sports cars, but ultimately he could not outrun the law,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Henry.

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