A former Tacoma, Washington banker who fraudulently raided the line of credit belonging to a non-profit organization, was sentenced to four years in prison, five years of supervised release and $917,204 in restitution, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.
JEFFREY R. GOODELL, 32, lied about his education to get a job at Northwest Commercial Bank, and then used his position as a loan officer to fund cash disbursements to friends and associates, and potential bank customers, using the bank accounts and line of credit of the Tacoma Rescue Mission.
In all, between 2009 and 2010, GOODELL disbursed nearly $1.3 million from the bank by using the Tacoma Rescue Mission bank accounts and line of credit.
According to records filed in the case, GOODELL repeatedly used the line of credit associated with the Tacoma Rescue Mission, and bank accounts held by the non-profit to make unauthorized loans.
When a bank executive grew suspicious, he had a friend impersonate the executive director of the organization on the phone to say the transactions were authorized.
GOODELL used phony emails to further his fraud by making it appear an executive with the non-profit Rescue Mission had authorized the transactions.
When executives first noticed depletions in their account, GOODELL sent them a new, falsified statement, saying the previous one was in error.
At one point, to keep the fraud going, GOODELL shaved his head and claimed he had been diagnosed with cancer and therefore needed to save up his annual leave.
GOODELL was fired by the bank in December 2010.
In asking for a significant sentence prosecutors wrote that for more than six months, GOODELL pursued a fraud against the bank “with a vengeance.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arlen Storm.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle ordered GOODELL into custody.
Defendant: JEFFREY R. GOODELL
Exact Criminal Charges: Bank Defrauding
City and State: Tacoma, Washington
Exact Date: today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma
Sentence or Outcome: four years in prison, five years of supervised release and $917,204 in restitution
Dollar Amounts: $917,204 in restitution, nearly $1.3 million
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Key Facts
- State: Washington
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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