Raleigh Man Sentenced in Bank Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme

RALEIGH—United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court on November 14, 2012, United States District Judge Terence W. Boyle sentenced Roger Van Santvoord Camp, 68, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 102 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years’ supervised release. The court also imposed restitution in the amount of $442,827.02 to a person who was a victim of Camp’s criminal scheme.

In April 2012, Camp pled guilty to a six-count superseding indictment charging him with committing a wide-ranging bank fraud and aggravated identity theft scheme in connection with three commercial loan applications and one personal loan application, totaling $6,450,000. Camp had initially pled not guilty to the superseding indictment, and on April 16, 2012, a jury trial in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, commenced with Judge Terrence W. Boyle presiding. At the close of the government’s case-in-chief, Camp changed his mind and pled guilty to all counts of the superseding indictment.

Camp was the managing member of Piedmont Center Investments LLC, which owned a strip-mall in Mebane, North Carolina, as well as other commercial properties in the state. In addition, Camp was the owner and manager of FEC Partners LLC, a company that he established for purposes of opening Z-Bowl, a bowling alley and family entertainment center in Mebane, North Carolina. Camp faced serious financial problems in these business ventures, and, in a misguided effort to address his cash flow deficiencies, Camp engaged in a complex fraud scheme in connection with three commercial loans: 1) refinancing the underlying mortgage with Key Source Bank in the amount of $3.8 million in 2009; 2) seeking a line of credit from Capital Bank in the amount of $2 million in 2009 and 2010; and 3) unsuccessfully applying for a $500,000 line of credit from TrustAtlantic Bank in 2010.

Camp knew that the banks would not approve these loans without a guarantor who had substantial financial assets. Camp submitted forged and falsified documents purporting to show that a close friend and business partner with large financial assets, referred to the in the superseding indictment as T.B., had agreed to serve as the personal guarantor of a commercial loan that Camp was seeking. Some of these documents included forged signatures of T.B. and forged notarizations. Other documents  purported to be detailed financial statements listing T.B.’s assets and liabilities. In fact, these documents contained information that had been completely fabricated by Camp and in no way reflected T.B.’s financial information accurately. Furthermore, T.B. had never agreed to serve as a co-signer or guarantor of the loans in question, had no prior knowledge of Camp’s fraud scheme, and never authorized his name, signature, or other financial information to be used by Camp for purposes of these loan applications.

Additionally, in January 2011, Camp committed bank fraud against North State Bank in connection with a $150,000 personal line of credit. In order to secure this line of credit, Camp created a fictitious brokerage account statement, purportedly from a Raleigh-based wealth management firm. Camp also forged the signature of the president of this wealth management firm on a so-called “control agreement,” which pledged the non-existent brokerage account as collateral for the line of credit.

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.

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