Real Estate Developer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charge

LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced that real estate developer Roger Stephen Clary, age 60, of Little Rock, pled guilty to mail fraud before United States District Judge J. Leon Holmes today. The remaining four counts of wire fraud were dismissed.

According to the indictment, Clary created a company called Destination Ventures, which was to purchase, custom outfit, and lease buses. Clary obtained a loan from Banc of America Leasing Corporation (BALC) to fund the purchase and outfitting of the buses. The loan was approved and entered into on May 8, 2008. On the following day, Clary requested that BALC distribute a portion of the loan proceeds to purchase and outfit the buses. However, on the same day, Clary directed the vendor who was to outfit the buses to redistribute the funds once the vendor received them. The vendor complied with the directives from Clary. Consequently, $1,595,000 of the loan proceeds were paid to companies in which Clary had a financial interest but which had no involvement in the purchase, custom outfitting, or leasing of the buses as intended by the loan agreement. The mail fraud count charges Clary with later falsely certifying to BALC that the buses had been custom outfitted.

Clary faces a statutory penalty of no more than 30 years’ incarceration and/or a fine of $1,000,000 with five years of supervised release. The sentencing date will be determined by the Court at a later date.

The investigation was conducted by the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by former First Assistant United States Attorney Jane Duke and Assistant United States Attorney Angela Jegley.