Va. restaurateur known for flashy cars sentenced to 12 years in prison for $53M bank fraud

Va. man gets 12 years in prison for $53M fraud

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Virginia restaurateur has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a plot that defrauded banks across the country of $53 million.

Thirty-one-year-old Osama El-Atari of Ashburn also was ordered to pay $53 million in restitution at sentencing Friday. He had pleaded guilty in April to three counts of bank fraud and one count of money laundering.

El-Atari owned a small chain of steakhouses in the Washington suburbs under the name Original Steakhouse and Sports Theater. He was known for driving Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

According to court documents, El-Atari presented the banks with fake life insurance policies as collateral to obtain fraudulent loans. The loans allegedly were for business ventures.

He fled the United States in May 2009 and was arrested in Texas in January 2010.