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Two North Louisiana men convicted for Conspiring to Commit Bank Fraud resulting in a loss of over $3 Million
By Jalon Grant,
14 days ago
MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — According to a press release by The United States Department of Justice, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Charlie L. Simpson, 51, of Downsville, and Charles D. Gardner, 56, of West Monroe, were each found guilty today by a federal jury in Monroe of one count of conspiracy of bank fraud.
The court declared a mistrial as to the remaining four counts of bank fraud against Gardner. Chief United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty presided over the two-week trial.
Simpson worked as the Chief Operating Officer of United Home Care, Inc. and Gardner worked as the Chief Financial Officer/Controller of United and Trinity. According to the press release, from April 2016 to March 2017, Simpson and Gardner defrauded Orgin Bank, Peoples Bank, and Louisiana National Bank obtaining money and credits from three banks.
As a result, Simpson and Gardner caused Orgin Bank and LNB to honor checks and payments drawn against accounts with insufficient funds which put the financial institutions at risk.
Additional testimony revealed that 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 has less than $2,000 and no sufficient funds to cover the checks deposited into Orgin Bank. The next day, Simpson used the balances to obtain four certified checks totaling 2.1 million from Orgin Bank which was deposited into different accounts at LNB.
Orgin Bank suffered a loss when it discovered that they used the inflated accounts to obtain certain 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.
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