Painesville Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud

Michael E. Ratcliffe, age 56, of Painesville, was sentenced to more than two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $700,000 in restitution, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster sentenced Ratcliffe to 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $718,138 in restitution.

Ratcliffe pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in May.

Ratcliffe and Edward P. Markovich, 57, of Akron, were charged in connection with a scheme in which they opened bank accounts, deposited stolen checks into the accounts and distributed funds to themselves and bank accounts in different parts of the world. Markovich was a practicing attorney in Akron but he was suspended from the practice of law by the Ohio Supreme Court in 2008 for malfeasance.

Markovich’s criminal case remains pending.

The men were accused of negotiating five check totaling more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2006. In addition, Ratcliffe was accused of negotiating a check for approximately $1.8 million on December 27, 2004, according to the indictment.

The indictment is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Robert C. McBride. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Henry F. DeBaggis.