Rogers Businessman Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 16, 2014 |
FORT SMITH, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that James W. Bolt, 60, of Rogers, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of money laundering. The plea took place before the Honorable Robert T. Dawson in United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith.
U.S. Attorney Eldridge stated, “This case involves serious fraud, including forgery and a course of deceitful conduct designed to steal money from others. Today, defendant Bolt has been convicted and held accountable for this criminal conduct. Our office remains committed to pursuing and prosecuting fraud, wherever it manifests itself.”
According to documents filed in the case, in August 2012, the FBI launched an investigation into suspicious activity involving Bolt’s company, Situs Cancer Research Center, located in Rogers, Arkansas. The investigation revealed that Bolt had committed mail and wire fraud by preparing and sending fraudulent documents containing forged signatures and false authentication features to various entities and individual persons in order to persuade them to send him unclaimed property and assets from defunct companies held by the state of California for Community Medical Group of Corona Inc. The Community Medical Group had never authorized any transfer of its property to Situs.
The defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violations. The sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases will be less than the maximum. In this case, Bolt faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the fraud charges and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for money laundering.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and IRS. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glen Hines, Kyra Jenner, and Benjamin Wulff are prosecuting the case for the United States.