Kevin Kenard Howard Sentenced in $2M FAIM Fraud Scheme

Dallas man Kevin Kenard Howard, 34, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,850,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aiding and abetting in a $2 million fraud scheme tied to the FAIM Economic Development Corporation. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle handed down the sentence, with Howard set to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on April 26, 2017.

Howard, who worked as a financial consultant for FAIM under CEO Ellis Wamsley, IV, 47, of Grand Prairie, Texas, helped recruit M.R., owner of Company R in Flower Mound, Texas, into a joint venture purportedly funding economic development projects in southern Dallas and nationwide. In August 2010, M.R. wired $2 million to a FAIM brokerage account at Charles Schwab—funds that would soon be siphoned and misrepresented.

By September 2010, Wamsley transferred $1,791,703 of the investment to a Merrill Lynch account he solely controlled. As FAIM’s designated contact with M.R., Howard began sending false emails claiming the account was thriving. In November 2010, he falsely reported rising profits. In December, he claimed the balance was $2,436,611. By January 2011, he claimed it had hit $2,500,000—all lies. The account was hemorrhaging money, and Howard knew it.

From October 2010 to August 2011, Howard sent repeated lulling emails designed to deceive M.R. Meanwhile, Wamsley funneled more than $1.7 million from the investment into FAIM business accounts for personal use. He bought a 2008 Cadillac Escalade for Howard with $40,024 of the stolen funds, another Escalade for a family member for $41,764, and a 2007 Aston Martin for himself at $125,477. Over $200,000 was spent on a 2011 Super Bowl fundraising event.

Wamsley pleaded guilty in May 2016 to engaging in monetary transactions with illicit proceeds and was sentenced in October 2016 to 54 months in prison, also ordered to pay $1,850,000 in restitution. Both men admitted their roles in the elaborate deception that unraveled over years of false statements and financial sleight-of-hand.

The case emerged from the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas, now responsible for 16 felony convictions since August 2013. IRS Criminal Investigation led the probe. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis prosecuted. The FAIM scheme stands as another grim chapter in the long ledger of white-collar betrayal.

RELATED: Ellis Wamsley IV Gets 54 Months for FAIM Investment Fraud