A former senior living executive, whose prison sentence for fraud was commuted by former President Trump as he left office, still must repay more than $74 million in restitution to his more than 1,400 victims, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced Friday.
Jon Michael Harder, the former CEO of Sunwest Management, has been ordered to pay $74.1 million to his victims in what the US Attorney’s office said was one of the largest financial fraud schemes in Oregon history. A US District Court judge previously ruled that Harder would repay $79.5 million in restitution to investors.
Harder began serving a 15-year prison sentence in 2016. After serving five years, that prison sentence was commuted by Trump on Jan. 20, 2021, his last day in office as president. The remaining components of the sentence, including three years of supervised release and restitution, remained intact.
Harder originally was indicted in 2012 on 56 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges. In total, the government asserted that he misled more than 1,400 investors, with losses of more than $120 million.
Harder pleaded guilty in 2015 to one felony count of mail fraud and one felony count of money laundering. He admitted to lying to more than 50 investors to obtain more than $5 million from late 2007 through February 2008.
The US Attorney’s Office stated that Harder “knowingly and intentionally misled hundreds of investors about the nature and risks of their investment in Sunwest housing facilities and development projects.” The government asserted that Harder further misled investors about the financial health of Sunwest, not disclosing that the company continuously operated at “substantial” monthly losses.
At its height, Sunwest owned approximately 300 assisted living communities that served more than 15,000 residents. Harder left the company in 2009 as part of a corporate restructuring effort.
