Elkhorn City Attorney Indicted for Bank Fraud and Filing a False Tax Returns

LONDON, Ky. — An Elkhorn City, Ky., man was indicted Thursday, on charges of bank fraud and filing false tax returns.           

A federal grand jury sitting in London returned the indictment charging Timothy Belcher, 55, with seven counts of bank fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns.            

The indictment alleges that Belcher used his position as an attorney to misappropriate money from a client’s escrow account, over a period of years, and that he failed to report those funds as income on his federal tax returns.           

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; James Robert Brown, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, FBI Louisville Field Office; and Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS – Criminal Investigation, jointly announced the indictment.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Mattingly Williams. 

A date for Belcher to appear in court has not yet been scheduled.  He faces up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000 on the bank fraud charges and up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,00 on the false tax return charges.  However, any sentence following a conviction would be imposed by the Court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

            Any indictment is an accusation only.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.