Press Release
Former Nebraska Business Owners Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Commit Bank Fraud
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Charles F. Martin, 57, of Bellevue, Nebraska, and Sherri L. Atkins, 59, of Omaha, Nebraska, were sentenced today in federal court for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Chief United States District Court Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Martin to 33 months’ imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Atkins received a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Both were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,634,803.
During an investigation conducted by Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service it was determined that from 2010 to 2013, Martin and Atkins, owners of IROCK Concrete, LLC, a business formerly located in Gretna, Nebraska, repeatedly submitted materially false and fraudulent financial statements and business records to multiple local financial institutions in the District. The false financial documents included overstated accounts receivable reports and sales invoices reflecting fictitious invoice numbers, inflated sales amounts, and fabricated deliveries of concrete. Martin also provided the financial institutions multiple personal financial statements which over reported $1,800,000 in personal assets. Martin and Atkins provided the false financials in an effort to obtain and maintain at least five loans that had been made to IROCK and other associated entities. Once the loans were approved, both Martin and Atkins used at least some of the funds for personal expenses, such as car payments and credit card charges. Loans extended based on the fraudulent conduct totaled more than $12 million dollars, resulting in losses exceeding $4.6 million dollars to the local financial institutions.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Updated June 28, 2019
Topic
Financial Fraud
Component