Superseding Indictment Issued For Dover Developer Zimmerman

WILMINGTON, Del. – Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that the federal grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment charging Michael A. Zimmerman, age 56, of Dover with additional fraud and money-laundering offenses.

The Superseding Indictment alleges that Zimmerman made a false statement in April 2008 in connection with a $685,206.00 construction draw request to The Bancorp Bank (“Bancorp”) for the Long Neck project in Sussex County, Delaware.  The Superseding Indictment alleges that two line items within that draw request, totaling $440,206.00, were false and were not for work that was not connected to the Long Neck project.  According to the Superseding Indictment, Zimmerman submitted several forged and/or fraudulent documents to Bancorp in connection with the construction draw request.  Zimmerman’s conduct in submitting the false draw request comprises Count 10 of the Superseding Indictment, which is punishable by a maximum term of 30 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000.00, and mandatory restitution.

The Superseding Indictment further alleges that Zimmerman utilized at least a portion of the construction draw request for personal purposes unrelated to the Long Neck project.  In particular, Zimmerman caused the transfer of Bancorp loan proceeds from his company account to his personal bank account in the amount of $106,672.00.  Zimmerman ultimately used those funds to reimburse himself for a check he had written on or about May 7, 2008, toward his partnership investment in Club Wild Quail, LLC – an entity which owned the Wild Quail Country Club in Camden-Wyoming, Delaware.  The diversion of Long Neck project funds to Zimmerman’s personal account constitutes the money laundering count in Count 11 of the Superseding Indictment.  This charge carries a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.00.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and the Office of Inspector General, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert F. Kravetz and Lesley F. Wolf.

Members of the public are reminded that an Indictment is only an allegation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.