Novato defendant sentenced for business schemes

Geoffrey Palermo, 60, pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, making a false statement to a bank, and willfully failing to collect taxes.

A Novato resident was sentenced to 65 months in federal prison after being convicted of several business schemes that involved wire fraud, kickbacks, and other offenses.

Geoffrey Palermo, 60, pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, making a false statement to a bank, and willfully failing to collect taxes.

Palermo is a former manager of Hilton’s downtown San Francisco hotel where he admitted that he collaborated with a contractor in a kickback scheme that deprived the hotel’s owners of more than $1.8 million, which went to him. Investigators said that he approved falsely inflated invoices for construction projects at the hotel, and had the owners pay more than $6.4 million to the contractor over three years.

The contractor, identified as 56-year-old Placer County resident Adan Roldan, was convicted of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 12.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that after Palermo left Hilton he owned and managed the GMP Cars auto repair business. Authorities said that he made false statements on applications in order to secure $5 million in Small Business Administration loans.

Palermo has been detained since June 2023, authorities said.