Fresno restaurant manager sentenced, $30 million fraud scheme exposed

A federal judge on December 8 sentenced Matthew Billingsley, the former manager of the Dog House Grill on Shaw Avenue in Fresno, to seven years and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Prosecutors say Billingsley ran a scheme that used fabricated brokerage statements and forged agreements to secure more than $30 million in loans between June 2018 and February 2023.

Prosecutors allege Billingsley supplied fake account statements and a forged profit sharing agreement that included the restaurant owner’s name and signature to persuade individuals and financial institutions to lend. The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecutors said built a cooperative case that ultimately led to the conviction.

Billingsley’s sentence closes the criminal stage of the case, but financial consequences remain. Restitution and the final restitution amount are pending, with hearings scheduled for January 2026. Those proceedings will determine how much, if any, of the more than $30 million can be returned to lenders and private victims, and could include judgments that affect Billingsley’s future earnings and assets.

The case has immediate local implications. The use of the Dog House Grill owner’s name and signature in forged documents risks reputational damage for the restaurant and complicates business relationships in Fresno’s small business community. Employees and regular patrons may feel the effects if the establishment faces financial or legal fallout. Lenders who extended credit based on falsified materials could face losses or lengthy civil recovery efforts, and local private lenders who participated may be particularly exposed.

More broadly, the scheme underscores growing scrutiny around loan documentation and the cost of trust in business lending. Recovering funds after years of alleged deception will be difficult and expensive, and lenders and local business owners may see tighter verification practices and increased due diligence as a result. The involvement of federal investigators signals that similar cases will draw significant enforcement resources, and the January restitution hearings will be a key moment for victims seeking repayment and for Fresno residents assessing the local economic fallout.