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August 25, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fairview Resident Enters Plea to
Bank Fraud Charge

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A 55 year old Fairview, West Virginia, resident entered a plea of guilty on August 19, 2011, in United States District Court in Clarksburg before Judge Irene M. Keeley.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that ALICE RICE entered a plea of guilty to one count of bank fraud. From October 2005 to January of 2008, RICE defrauded individuals out of $319,000 by persuading them to purchase ING annuities and depositing their investment money into RICE’s personal accounts. RICE furthered her scheme by giving her victims fraudulent ING account statements and correspondence, which indicated that the victims had investment accounts that, in reality, did not exist. RICE, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure 30 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew R. Cogar and was investigated by the Fairmont Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Virginia Insurance Commission.