Battlefield Man Indicted for $785,200 Fraud Scheme

 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Battlefield, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a $785,200 scheme to defraud his employer.

Travis E. Honaker, 35, of Battlefield, was charged in a 25-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Tuesday, April 2, 2013.

The federal indictment alleges that Honaker engaged in a scheme to defraud his employer, Success Leasing, Inc. (or its affiliated company Prime, Inc.), in Springfield, by causing 109 wire transfers totaling $785,200 to be made to his bank accounts from the sale of used vehicles and equipment between August 2007 and December 2011.

Honaker is charged with 12 counts of wire fraud and 13 counts of money laundering.

According to the indictment, Honaker worked for Success Leasing and Pedigree Truck Sales, affiliated companies of Prime. He sold used equipment, including auxiliary power units (APUs) and used trucks that had previously been leased by Success to others. After the lease period expired and the trucks and equipment were returned to the company, Honaker was tasked with managing their sale to others.

Honaker allegedly began charging unauthorized “finder’s fees” or deposits to purchasers of Success’s used trucks in August 2007. Honaker was not authorized to charge finder’s fees or deposits. He never informed Success that he was collecting a finder’s fee or deposit for the trucks he was selling, the indictment says, and he did not remit the money back to Success.

Honaker allegedly created T&H Consulting, LLC, in January 2011 for the purpose of receiving these finder’s fees and deposits. According to the indictment, the purchasers wired funds to this account.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney. Gary Milligan. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.