GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After more than two years, prosecutors are scheduled this morning to charge local businessman Michael Vorce with a scheme that drained more than $27 million from local credit unions and banks who lent him funds to buy what turned out to be phantom boats.
Vorce convinced a dozen credit unions and banks to lend his company, West Michigan Yachts, millions using phony documents and income tax returns. Among the victims were Lake Michigan CU, which lent him $4.7 million and Michigan State University FCU, which lent $100,000.
Vorce is scheduled to be arraigned this morning on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, wire fraud and identity theft.
Authorities were able to sell some of Vorce’s assets at auction, including big-screen televisions, tricked-out sport utility vehicles, fine leather furniture and high-end appliances, to pay back some of the funds, but remained free. That was until last August when he was arrested in Chicago where federal prosecutors said he tried to steal the identity of a Milwaukee lawyer to get a $392,000 yacht loan.
