PRESS RELEASE
June 30, 2008
Fort Mitchell, Ky. —A couple from Lawrenceburg Ind., John and Linda Van Winkle, were each sentenced to 24 months in prison today by United States District Court Judge David L. Bunning. The family members had previously pled guilty to conspiring with others, including the former bank president Richard Thomas, to defraud the First National Bank of Northern Kentucky of more than $2.5 million. Bunning also ordered the family to pay $3,463,569 in restitution.
“White collar fraud is a significant problem,” said Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Bracke. “These cases require huge investments of time to investigate and prosecute. It was only through the unflagging work of the FBI and FDIC that we were able to successfully convict all of the participants in this fraud and send the major participants to prison.”
Between March 23, 2000 and July 31, 2002, sixty-year-old John Van Winkle and Linda Van Winkle, 59, made false statements on loan applications and conspired with Thomas to arrange for “nominee” loans to be made through First National Bank in the names of various family members supposedly for legitimate business purposes. However, the proceeds of these loans were actually intended for the Van Winkles. The loans were made in the names of Toni James, 37, and John Edwards, 50, both of Walton, Ky. The Van Winkles admitted that this was done for the purpose of evading bank lending limits and avoiding federal lending regulations. They also admitted to spending in excess of $2.5 million on personal items out of approximately $4.5 million lent to them in one form or another. Stolen funds were used to obtain multiple homes, luxury cars, and purchase other extravagant gifts to family members. All four individuals agreed to cooperate with the government in the investigation and prosecution of Richard Thomas. Thomas pled guilty in May of 2008 and is scheduled for sentencing in August. Bunning also sentenced James and Edwards to probation for a period of five years. James was ordered to pay $43,623 in restitution and Edwards was ordered to pay $83,185. Both played minor roles in the operation and did not directly profit from their participation.
James A. Zerhusen, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy D. Cox, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement after the guilty plea was entered.
The Van Winkles each will have to serve 85% of their sentences and will be on supervised release for five years after completing their jail sentences. All four defendants had clean criminal records.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - Office of Inspector General. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Bracke, Benjamin Dusing, and Alamdar Hamdani.