North Carolina Man Indicted for Bank Fraud Scheme
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 10, 2011 |
RALEIGH—United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that a federal grand jury returned a sealed six-count indictment charging ROGER VAN SANTVOORD CAMP, 67, of Raleigh, North Carolina, with one count of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1344(2) and five counts of filing false statements in connection with a loan application, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1014. At CAMP’s initial appearance yesterday morning, the court unsealed the indictment. The indictment relates to a scheme in which CAMP defrauded Capital Bank, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, by submitting falsified documents and documents with forged signatures, in connection with a $2,000,000.00 commercial loan application.
According to the indictment, CAMP is the owner and manager of FEC Partners, LLC, a company that he established for purposes of opening a bowling alley and family entertainment center in Mebane, North Carolina. The site selected by CAMP for the proposed bowling alley and family entertainment center was located in a building that was part of a strip mall. The site had been used as a retail outlet in the past, and consequently, extensive interior renovations were required to convert and reconfigure the space from a retail outlet to a bowling alley. The costs of this proposed renovation were extensive, and CAMP did not have sufficient cash available. CAMP sought financing from a high net worth individual, referred to in the Indictment as “T.B.,” who had been a friend and partner in other business ventures. However, T.B. declined to invest in or finance CAMP’S bowling alley project.
Knowing that Capital Bank would not approve his commercial loan application without a guarantor who had substantial financial assets, CAMP submitted forged and falsified documents purporting to show that T.B. had agreed to serve as the personal guarantor of a commercial loan that CAMP was seeking from Capital Bank. Some of these documents included forged signatures of T.B. Another document purported to be a detailed financial statement listing T.B.’s assets and liabilities. In fact, the document contained information that had been completely fabricated, and in no way reflected T.B.’s financial information accurately.
The Indictment alleges that CAMP knew T.B. never signed the documents that CAMP submitted to Capital Bank, never agreed to be a personal guarantor of the loan, and neither submitted nor prepared documents for Capital Bank in connection with the $2,000,000.00 commercial loan.
The false and fraudulent documents submitted to Capital Bank induced it to disburse a $2,000,000.00 commercial loan to CAMP.
The maximum penalty for bank fraud and filing false statements in connection with a loan application is 30 years’ imprisonment, on each count, followed by five years of supervised release.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Evan Rikhye represents the government in this prosecution.