Bank Officer Becomes Fourth Defendant Sentenced In Multi-Million Dollar Bank Fraud

Defendant helped three previously-sentenced codefendants fraudulently obtain over $2.1 million from his bank

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A former Vice President of PBI Bank in Lexington was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping three other people defraud the bank.

U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Joseph Tobin, age 45, for six counts of aiding and abetting bank fraud and one count of bank fraud. Judge Reeves had previously sentenced Daniel Sexton to 109 months, Jonathan Williams to 60 months, and Sheila Flynn to 24 months of imprisonment for their roles in the fraud. Sexton, Williams, and Flynn are currently serving their sentences in federal prisons after pleading guilty.

According to their guilty pleas, Sexton and Williams owned and operated several mobile home businesses in Georgetown, Kentucky. Flynn worked at those businesses as an office manager. Tobin was a Vice President at PBI Bank in Lexington, which was receiving funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program at the time of the offense.

Sexton, Williams, and Flynn conspired together to obtain various bank loans using false corporate accounting records, false tax records, and false appraisals for assets such as a private plane. They also failed to disclose debts they owed to others in their loan applications. Tobin knew that the loan applications were fraudulent but approved them anyway.

Sexton and Williams also recruited other people to take out loans from PBI Bank then direct the money to them. Tobin approved these loans even though he knew that Sexton and Williams were the true borrowers. Tobin also set up a straw loan for another borrower.

In addition to their prison sentences, Judge Reeves ordered the four defendants to pay restitution to four victimized banks. Sexton and Williams were each ordered to pay over $2.6 million in restitution, Tobin is responsible for $185,001 and Flynn for over $1.4 million.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Amy S. Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Alfred Hogan, Special Agent in Charge, Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, jointly announced the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dmitriy Slavin represented the United States.