Diamondhead Man Sentenced to Almost Five Years in Prison for Bank Fraud

Gulfport, Miss –   Louis Joseph Normand, Jr., 60, of Diamondhead, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. to 57 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Michelle A. Sutphin with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi. Norman was also ordered to pay over $1.6 million in restitution.

Normand owned businesses involved in the sale of trucks called National Truck Funding and American Truck Group.  From 2013 until 2017, he purchased well over 100 18-wheeler trucks for resale.  During that time, he received financing from a local bank, as well as private lenders, for 80% of the sales price.  In order to increase the amount of the loan and decrease the amount of his down payment, he created false invoices inflating the sales price and, therefore, the amount of the loans he received.  Over this period, he was loaned almost $5,000,000, which was approximately 130% of the actual purchase price of the vehicles.

Normand pled guilty on July 7, 2020 to a Criminal Information charging him with bank fraud.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie.