State Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, resigned from the Utah House on Monday, Sept. 28, hours after the attorney general's office charged him with four felonies tied to an alleged $1 million loan fraud scheme.

Lee, 35, represented House District 16 in Davis County since January 2023. He faces two second-degree felonies, communications fraud and mortgage fraud, and two third-degree felonies, forgery and possession of a forgery device, according to KSL. Second-degree felonies carry one to 15 years in prison. Third-degree felonies carry up to five years.

Charging documents allege Lee submitted fraudulent paperwork to Kind Lending to obtain a $1 million home loan. The loan was structured as a refinance that returned $317,190.99 in cash to Lee, Utah News Dispatch reported.

Among the forged documents was an Enevive employment contract listing Lee's salary at $168,000 a year. His actual 2024 W-2 from Enevive showed earnings of $55,634.59, according to charging documents.

Lee also submitted a Blue Logic offer letter claiming a $190,000 salary. A Blue Logic official told investigators Lee never accepted the offer, was a contract employee, and that the letter was prepared to help Lee as a friend and was not accurate.

Trent Spafford, CEO of Enevive, a Pleasant Grove-based water treatment company, told FOX 13 News that Lee often complained about financial troubles. Spafford said he gave Lee advance payments on top of sales commissions totaling more than $93,000.

"I would love to have 93,000 dollars back; that's not chump change," Spafford told FOX 13.

Spafford told KUTV that Lee had discussed needing to show a higher salary to qualify for the loan.

According to charging documents, Lee initially denied forging Spafford's signature but later admitted to investigators that he personally forged it on the Enevive contract. Lee also told investigators the Blue Logic offer letter was used to help show W-2 income and that he knew the company would never be able to pay the $190,000 salary it stated.

In his resignation letter, Lee cited personal circumstances without mentioning the charges. House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, accepted the resignation in a statement.

Lee had already lost a contested GOP primary to Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson in June and was set to leave office early next year.

Lee has not been arrested.

He was ordered to appear at the Salt Lake County Jail for booking and immediate release on his own recognizance. No initial court date had been scheduled as of Tuesday, Sept. 29. The attorney general's office told KUTV it does not comment on active prosecutions.

No defense attorney statement has been located in public records. The Davis County Republican Party will hold a special election to fill the District 16 seat for the remainder of Lee's term.