Dallas Woman Sentenced for Role in Bank Fraud Conspiracy

     TYLER, Texas – A 44-year-old Dallas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

     Rachelle Dashner pleaded guilty on May 18, 2017, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield. Dashner was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $7,691,106.50.

     According to information presented in court, in the summer of 2013, Albert Davis, 56, formerly of Richardson, Texas, and David Tayce, 67, of Lucas, Texas, approached Community Trust Bank regarding financing for iHeart Care cardiovascular surgical centers that Davis planned to develop across North Texas. The plan, as outlined by Davis, was to open multiple iHeart cardiovascular surgical centers and team up with physicians at each location who would invest in the surgical centers and refer patients to the cardiovascular practices.  Over the course of the next year, Davis, Tayce, and Dashner prepared loan documents related to various iHeart Care locations in Denton, Ennis, Mesquite, and Mansfield.  Davis and Dashner identified numerous physicians as guarantors in the loan documents without the physicians’ knowledge and authorization.  The loan documents were submitted to Community Trust Bank, and based upon various false and fraudulent representations, Community Trust Bank funded numerous loans to iHeart.  In many instances, the iHeart facilities for which financing was obtained were never built or made operational.  In total, Davis, Tayce, and Dashner submitted fraudulent loan documents to Community Trust Bank and secured five fraudulent loans totaling over $7,500,000.

     Davis, Tayce, David Hernon, 56, of Fishers, Ind. (formerly of Richardson, Texas), and Richard Bryant, 41, and his wife, Christina Bryant, 41, both of Sachse, Texas, were charged in a related case in the Western District of Missouri for conspiring to commit wire fraud.  From 2008 to 2015, Davis and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to use Cerner Corporation’s reputation and standing in the medical field to manipulate business transactions and court proceedings in their favor. 

     On Apr. 24, 2017, Davis, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays in the Western District of Missouri to 12 years in federal prison. The court also ordered Davis to pay $19,151,555 in restitution to the victims of the fraud scheme.

     On Apr. 25, 2017, Tayce, Hernon, Richard Bryant, and Christina Bryant were sentenced in separate appearances before Judge Kays.  Tayce was sentenced to five years and six months in federal prison and ordered to pay $19,151,555 in restitution. Hernon was sentenced to four years and four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6,487,224 in restitution. Richard and Christina Bryant were each sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $8,079,197 in restitution.

     In a related matter, in 2011, Davis, through his company, LBDS Holding Company, LLC, filed a civil trade secrets lawsuit against Korean-company ISOL Technology, Inc. (LBDS Holding Company, LLC v. ISOL Technology, Inc., et al., Case No. 6:11-CV-428) in the Eastern District of Texas.  During the 2014 trial of the case, Davis and Hernon testified falsely about business dealings with Cerner Corporation and offered false exhibits to support LBDS’s claim of damages.  At the conclusion of the trial, the jury awarded LBDS a verdict of $25 million.  When the perjury was discovered, attorneys for ISOL filed an emergency motion for sanctions against LBDS.  The district court vacated the verdict, dismissed LBDS’s case with prejudice, and awarded ISOL $738,706.47 in attorney’s fees.

     In 2015, Davis and Hernon were charged in the Eastern District of Texas with making false declarations before court.  Hernon pleaded guilty and was sentenced on June 13, 2017, to 15 months.  Davis pleaded guilty on June 19, 2017, and awaits sentencing.  

     This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld, in cooperation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew P. Wolesky of the Western District of Missouri and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Davis of the Western District of Arkansas.

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