Verona Man Charged with Making False Statements

MADISON, WI—A federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin sitting in Madison returned the following indictment today. You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Chester D. Howard, also known as C. Daniel Howard, 41, Verona, Wis., is charged in a seven-count indictment with making false statements. He is charged with five counts of falsely stating to banks that he was the owner of property as collateral for a loan, when he knew he was not the owner of the property. The indictment charges him with making a false statement to State Bank of Cross Plains, Cross Plains, Wisconsin, on October 16, 2007, and to Park Bank, Madison, Wisconsin, on November 16, 2007; January 4, 2008; November 21, 2008; and December 11, 2009.

The indictment also charges Howard with making false declarations in a bankruptcy proceeding on December 3, 2010 and August 31, 2011. The indictment alleges that he failed to provide information relating to the fact that he was the one-third owner of real property located in Rusk County, Wisconsin.

If convicted, Howard faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on each of the five counts of false statements to a financial institution, and a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on each count of making a false declaration in a bankruptcy proceeding. The charges against him are the result of an investigation by the Madison office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant C. Johnson.