A Long Island man's fraudulent lending companies allegedly drained dozens of victims' bank accounts
Samuel Selmar, 46, of Cedarhurst, New York, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly operating fraudulent lending companies with associates between March and December 2021. Prosecutors say the group collected victims' bank account information under the premise of processing loans, then withdrew thousands of dollars from each account without ever issuing the promised loans, defrauding dozens of victims of nearly $1 million. Selmar surrendered to face the charge and was presented before a federal magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York in April 2025; he is the third defendant charged in the scheme.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Charged (an allegation, not a conviction)
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Advance-fee loan scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
The facts, as recorded
- Samuel Selmar, 46, of Cedarhurst, New York, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- The Secret Service alleges Selmar and associates operated fraudulent lending companies from March 2021 through December 2021.
- Victims' bank account information was allegedly collected under the premise of processing a loan application; the group is then alleged to have withdrawn thousands of dollars from each account without issuing the promised loans.
- Prosecutors describe dozens upon dozens of victims defrauded of nearly $1 million in total.
- Selmar surrendered and was presented before US District Magistrate Judge Jennifer Willis in the Southern District of New York; he was announced as the third defendant charged in connection with this scheme.
- Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney of the US Secret Service said: "The deliberate chicanery allegedly carried out by this defendant has had a dire impact on the lives of his victims."
Why this case matters
Every other case on this page describes a victim wiring a fee up front. This one shows the reverse mechanic: instead of asking for money, the operation allegedly collected bank account and routing information under the guise of loan processing, then initiated the withdrawals itself. The end result, money leaves the victim’s account and no loan follows, is the same scheme wearing a different first step.
Volume over size
Where Kline and Santos’s schemes each produced a handful of very large individual losses, this one is described as reaching “dozens upon dozens” of victims for a combined total under $1 million, a lower-dollar, higher-volume version of the identical mechanism, closer to the scale most individual consumers actually encounter.
The caveat
Samuel Selmar is charged, not convicted. The facts above are allegations from a Secret Service press release describing a criminal complaint; Selmar is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, and this page will be updated if the case’s outcome changes. As of 10 October 2026 no later outcome was found in the sources reviewed.
Sources
- Third Defendant Charged with Orchestrating Nearly $1 Million Loan Fraud Scheme. US Secret Service. Accessed 2026-09-22. Supports: Selmar's name, age, location, the charge, the scheme mechanics, the bank-account-harvesting method, the victim count and dollar figure, and the official quote.