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Press Release
Little Rock - Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas announced that John B. Stacks, owner of Mountain Pure Water, was indicted today by a Federal Grand Jury on three counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of submitting a false claim to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and four counts of making a false statement.
The Indictment charges that Stacks obtained an SBA loan in 2009 for $703,300 under false pretenses. According to the Indictment, Stacks claimed he had over $500,000 worth of Mountain Pure Water equipment at his farm in Damascus, Arkansas. Stacks further alleged that this equipment was destroyed when a tornado touched down in the area in May 2008. The wire fraud and money laundering charges stem from three transfers of money from the SBA in Kansas City, Missouri to Stacks’ General Account at Home Bank of Arkansas in Greenbriar. The false claim and statement charges are related to the Loan Authorization and Agreement and other related documents and statements Stacks submitted to the SBA to induce the SBA to make the loan.
If convicted, Stacks faces a statutory maximum penalty for Wire Fraud of not more than 20 years; a statutory maximum penalty for Money Laundering of not more than 10 years; a statutory penalty for False Claim of not more than 5 years; and a statutory penalty for false statement of not more than 5 years of imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the SBA Office of Inspector General and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Jegley and First Assistant United States Attorney Pat Harris.