Man Convicted of Stealing More than $600,000 in Business Loan Scam Receives Award from the National Republican Congressional Committee

That title sums it up. And it's true. Here is the article from the Nashua Telegraph, a respectable newspaper in New Hampshire where this particular criminal and Republican award winner lives and bilked countless people out of their hard earned money.

By ANDREW WOLFE, Telegraph Staff
wolfea@telegraph-nh.com

Published: Thursday, Apr. 28, 2005

A man convicted of stealing more than $600,000 in a business loan scam received an award from the National Republican Congressional Committee honoring his business leadership and party support.

Ira Stern, 56, of Milford was among hundreds of people nationally to receive the 2004 Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal award, Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Alex Burgos said Wednesday.

Recipients were invited to be recognized at a dinner and tax reform workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 15, at which President Bush was the keynote speaker, Burgos said.

The awards were given by NRCC, and announced by House Majority Leader Tom Delay and NRCC Chairman Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, to honor business leaders who support the party, and honor President Reagan’s “vision for an entrepreneurial America.”

“Mr. Stern has served as Honorary Chairman of the Business Advisory Council and has provided much needed support. This award could not have gone to a more deserving candidate,” Reynolds was quoted as saying in the Amherst Citizen newspaper.

Stern said Wednesday he didn’t do much to earn the award.

“I believe the Congressional Committee gives that to people who support the Republican Party. I made a very small donation to them, and next thing I know, I was being nominated for businessman of the year,” he said.

Public records show Stern gave $250 to the NRCC in 2004.

Stern urged The Telegraph not to report his prior conviction, saying it was in the past. He is now trying to rebuild his life and support his family with his business-consulting firm, he said.

“I really don’t want to dwell on that,” Stern said of his 1996 felony theft convictions.

Stern was sentenced to 2 ½ to five years in prison and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to felony theft charges in 1996 in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Stern admitted to bilking 14 local businesses and individuals out of a total of more than $600,000 through an “advance fee loan scam.” Stern admitted at the time he took the money as fees, claiming he would arrange venture capital loans, but never made any loans.

As part of his plea bargain, Stern read a two-page statement in court admitting various aspects of the allegations.

Stern ran the scam through his former company, Venture Capital Consultants, Inc., which operated out of his former homes in Nashua and Hollis.

Stern currently heads a business consulting company, International Business Solutions Consulting Group, based in Amherst.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Laplante prosecuted Stern while working for the state Attorney General’s office.

“I can’t really comment on the appropriateness” of giving Stern the award, Laplante said Wednesday. “All I can say is that several business owners and entrepreneurs in southern New Hampshire were victimized by Mr. Stern’s advance fee loan scam. That’s a matter of public record.”

Andrew Wolfe can be reached at 594-6410 or wolfea@telegraph-nh.com