A Texas businessman at the center of the scandal that led to the historic impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton was charged Friday with making false statements to mortgage lenders to obtain $172 million in loans.

The federal indictment of real estate developer Nate Paul is the result of a yearslong FBI investigation — a probe Paxton involved his office in, setting off a chain of events that led to a separate federal probe of the attorney general and his impeachment and suspension from office last month.

Paul was charged with eight counts of making false statements while seeking loans from mortgage lenders in the U.S. and Ireland. There was no mention of Paxton or the attorney general’s office during the hearing.

Paul, 36, who entered the federal courtroom shackled and wearing jeans, a blue shirt and Nikes, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance in an Austin court nor visibly react as the charges were read. He was released ahead of trial but ordered to surrender his passport and inform the court of any travel outside Texas.

Following the hearing, Paul left through a back door and climbed into a car in a gated area outside the courthouse.

Paul is “adamant that he is not guilty," defense attorney Gerry Morris said after hearing, adding that he did not know when his client last spoke with Paxton. An attorney for Paxton, Dan Cogdell, speculated Thursday evening that prosecutors might use the charges against Paul to try to get him to “flip” and cooperate in the investigation of the attorney general.

Paul is accused of overstating his assets and understating his liabilities while seeking loans in 2017 and 2018, including by giving financial institution false and counterfeit records. In one case, prosecutors said, Paul told banks he had $18 million in an account when he had less than $13,000. In another case laid out in the 23-page indictment, Paul is accused of telling a credit union he had around
$3 million in liabilities when he actually owed more than $28 million at the time.