William J. Edwards, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an indictment against Fred A. Boukzam and Pon Management, Inc. charging them with one count of bank fraud. Boukzam, age 49, resides in Brooklyn, Ohio, and Pon Management, Inc. is located in Strongsville, Ohio.

The indictment alleges that Boukzam was President of Pon Management which owned and operated 15 Ponderosa restaurants in Northern Ohio. The indictment further alleges that, from January 2006 through September 2007, the defendants engaged in substantial check-kiting activity which defrauded First Merit Bank and caused that financial institution to sustain a loss of $4,127,000. Specifically, the indictment alleges that, during that time period, the defendants utilized various company bank accounts to conduct their fraudulent scheme which involved more than 44,000 checks totaling approximately $824 million dollars.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Sammon, following an investigation of the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.