MONROE, La. – Two North Louisiana men have been convicted of conspiring to commit bank fraud, resulting in a loss of over $3 million.
Charlie L. Simpson, 51, of Downsville, and Charles D. Gardner, 56, of West Monroe, were each found guilty by a federal jury in Monroe of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Simpson was also found guilty of four counts of bank fraud.
The scheme, which lasted from April 2016 until March 2017, involved Simpson and Gardner defrauding Origin Bank, Peoples Bank, and Louisiana National Bank by fraudulently obtaining money and credits from the three banks. The men orchestrated a check kiting scheme between accounts at Origin Bank and LNB, depositing hundreds of checks between multiple accounts they controlled at both banks and taking advantage of the float to artificially inflate the account balances.
As a result of this scheme, Simpson and Gardner caused Origin Bank and LNB to honor checks and payments drawn against accounts with insufficient funds, putting the financial institutions at risk. On March 8, 2017, Simpson learned that accounts under his control at LNB had an overdraft and the bank would only accept a certified check to cover the deficit. To cover the overdraft and prevent the kite from collapsing, Simpson and Gardner added a third bank, Peoples Bank, into the scheme by issuing over 20 checks for approximately $4 million drawn from different accounts at that bank and deposited them into multiple accounts at Origin Bank.
However, the accounts used at Peoples Bank had less than $2,000 available and did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks deposited into Origin Bank. The following day, Simpson used the artificially inflated balances to obtain four certified checks totaling $2.1 million from Origin Bank and deposited them into different accounts at LNB to cover the overdraft. Origin Bank suffered a financial loss when it discovered that they had used the inflated accounts to obtain certified funds.
Simpson and Gardner each face a sentence of not more than 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000,000, or both. Sentencing is set for August 7, 2024. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Leon H. Whitten, Brian C. Flanagan, and Criminal Chief Allison L. Duncan.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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