Feds charge Michigan woman with bilking clients

The U.S. Attorney's Office has charged a Michigan loan agent with bilking clients in Chester County, New York, Puerto Rico and Nevada.

In charges filed Tuesday, prosecutors said Alyson Cesarz, 43, owner of Parklane Commercial Lending in suburban Detroit, promised to help businesses obtain millions of dollars in credit. All they had to do was make large advance deposits with her. The deposits were supposed to be refundable.

They said Cesarz used $1.1 million of the advance money for her own expenses, as well as to repay some of the funds from clients who demanded that their deposits be returned.

In 2012, Valhalla Brandywine, a Glenmoore, Chester County-based firm, gave a $548,000 deposit to Parklane, which was supposed to find $261 million in financing for a real estate project, officials said. Cesarz never obtained the credit and Valhalla was out the entire amount, prosecutors said. - Mark Fazlollah