MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that David Weimert, 64, Madison, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Judge Peterson also imposed a $25,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release. Weimert was convicted on April 3, 2015 of the wire fraud charges after a five-day jury trial in federal court in Madison.

At the trial, the government showed that from December 2008 until March 31, 2009, Weimert, while working at Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin, Inc. (ABCW) as a Senior Vice-President in Lending Administration, and as the President of Investment Directions, Inc. (IDI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ABCW, devised and participated in a scheme to defraud IDI and obtain money by means of fraudulent pretenses.

The evidence at trial established that Weimert devised a scheme to defraud IDI by lying and omitting material facts in an effort to obtain an ownership interest in Chandler Creek, a joint venture partnership formed to develop an industrial park in Round Rock, Texas, and in an effort to obtain a 4% commission fee as part of the sale of Chandler Creek.

As a result of Weimert’s misrepresentations and omissions, Weimert induced the IDI Board of Directors to accept an offer to purchase Chandler Creek, with Weimert receiving a 4.875% ownership interest as part of the deal and a 4% commission fee to Weimert, which totaled $311,680.

At today’s sentencing, Judge Peterson found the loss amount for sentencing purposes totaled $991,680, that Weimert used sophisticated means to conduct the offense, and that Weimert abused a position of trust as President of IDI to engage in self-dealing with IDI’s assets. Finally, Judge Peterson found that Weimert willfully obstructed justice by presenting false testimony when he testified at trial.

In imposing sentence, Judge Peterson told Weimert he committed an extreme act of dishonesty which required significant punishment. Judge Peterson explained that Anchor Bank and IDI were entitled to Weimert’s loyalty and his criminal scheme reflected an ability to compartmentalize his criminal conduct and bring a different level of morality to his fiduciary duty to his employer.

The charges against him are the result of an investigation by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Graber and Antonio Trillo.