October 30, 2023 3:40 a.m.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced that the former CEO of Sunwest Management and associated companies, who previously admitted to orchestrating one of the largest financial fraud schemes in Oregon history, was ordered to pay over $74 million in restitution to more than 1,400 victims.
Canyonville resident, 58-year old Jon Michael Harder, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, was ordered to pay $74,062,211 in restitution to his victims.
According to court documents, Harder formerly controlled a network of companies that bought, constructed, and managed assisted living facilities. The DOJ release said at its height, Sunwest Management and its related companies, owned approximately 300 assisted living facilities that served more than 15,000 residents. As CEO of Sunwest, Harder knowingly and intentionally misled hundreds of investors about the nature and risk of their investment in Sunwest housing facilities and development projects. He further misled investors about the financial health of the company, failing to disclose that Sunwest continuously operated at substantial monthly losses. DOJ said in total, Harder misled the investors, causing losses exceeding $120 million.
A federal grand jury in Portland returned a 56-count indictment charging Harder with mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, on September 18th, 2012. On January 8th, 2015 Harder pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. On November 18th, 2015 Harder was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.
The release said on January 13th, 2021 after Harder had served just over five years of his 15-year prison sentence, President Donald Trump commuted his sentence to time served.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, and the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program. Restitution was litigated by Claire. M. Fay, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.