Roger Leigh Oehler was charged by a federal grand jury on May 8 with 30 counts of fictitious obligations and five counts of false statements.  The indictment was sealed pending Oehler’s arrest and initial appearance.

Oehler was charged with using fraudulent “sight drafts” in an effort to pay debts, obtain money, or obtain tax refunds.

According to the indictment, from February 1999 to August 1999, Oehler allegedly wrote nine bogus sight drats to the Minnesota Child Support Payment Center and the Douglas County Social Services Department as payment for his child support obligations. Oehler also allegedly wrote fake sight drafts to several credit card companies and to pay his tax obligations.

The grand jury also charged Oehler with filing false Forms 8300 with the IRS, indicating various entities or individuals paid or received large amounts of cash or money orders which they in fact did not receive or pay, in an effort to harass, intimidate, and create legal problems for the individuals.  The false Forms 8300 were allegedly sent after entities and individuals would not accept the bogus sight drafts.

If convicted, Oehler faces a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine on each count of fictitious obligations and up to three years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine on each count of false statement.  Any sentence would be determined by a judge based on the federal sentencing guidelines.

The case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mike Cheever.