A Nevada woman's shell 'lenders' collected 5% advance fees on loans that never existed
Anna Kline, also known as Jordana Weber, of Sparks, Nevada, operated multiple shell companies from April 2017 to July 2019 that falsely claimed to offer high-value business loans, often exceeding $100 million, to small-business owners. Victims were told to pay advance fees of up to 5% of the requested loan amount, then given fabricated bank statements and stalling excuses once they paid. At least six victims sent Kline and a partner, Jason Torres, approximately $7 million; Kline was sentenced in 2025 to 120 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.4 million in restitution, after also being convicted of obstructing the investigation with falsified evidence.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $7.0 million
- Victims
- 6
- Schemes
- Advance-fee loan scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-22
The facts, as recorded
- Between April 2017 and July 2019, Kline established and operated multiple shell companies that falsely claimed to offer business loans often exceeding $100 million.
- Victims, mostly small-business owners, were told to pay advance fees of up to 5% of the total loan amount before any funding could be secured.
- After receiving payment, Kline gave fabricated explanations for delays and provided falsified or fraudulent documents, including doctored bank statements purporting to show the shell companies had the funds to cover the loans.
- At least six victims transferred approximately $7 million to accounts Kline controlled; she and her partner, Jason Torres, used the funds for luxury vehicles, high-end artwork, vacations, and to repay earlier victims.
- Following her July 2019 arrest, Kline attempted to obstruct the investigation by submitting a falsified forensic report through her then-attorney, purporting to show threatening messages from Torres, using a fabricated forensic examiner's identity she had also used in an unrelated family-court proceeding.
- Kline pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced by US District Judge Christine P. O'Hearn in Camden, New Jersey federal court to 120 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $3.4 million in restitution.
Why this case matters
Kline’s shell companies did not target vulnerable consumers with bad credit; they targeted small-business owners actively seeking large commercial financing, precisely the audience least likely to assume a “lender” is fake. The 5%-of-loan-amount fee structure meant the size of the fraud scaled automatically with how much each victim was trying to borrow.
Falsified proof, not just false promises
Kline’s operation did not simply take a fee and disappear. Victims were given fabricated bank statements designed to make the shell companies look capable of funding the loans they were promising, a documented pattern this page’s other cases repeat at a larger scale.
Obstruction on top of fraud
After her arrest, Kline tried to derail the investigation itself: she submitted a falsified forensic report, through her own attorney, built around a fictitious examiner she invented, the same fake persona she had separately used to mislead a family court. This obstruction added to, rather than replaced, the underlying fraud charges.
The caveat
Kline pleaded guilty, and her sentence and restitution order are final as of this case’s last review. Her partner, Jason Torres, was reported as separately charged by complaint in earlier coverage of this case; this page does not describe his case’s outcome, which was not confirmed in the sources above.
Sources
- Sparks woman charged in $7 million Ponzi scheme. KOLO 8 News Now. Accessed 2026-09-22. Supports: The shell companies, the 2017–2019 operating period, the 5% advance-fee structure, the falsified bank statements, and the original charges.
- Woman Gets 10-Year Sentence for $7M Ponzi Scheme. NewsBreak, reproducing Morristown Minute / US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey reporting. Accessed 2026-09-22. Supports: The guilty plea, sentence, restitution, victim count, how the funds were spent, and the obstruction-of-justice details.