A Rockwell City man has pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge in a case involving nearly $22 million in fraudulently obtained loan funds.
Thirty-five-year-old Curtis Weston pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to one count of money laundering.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, Weston admitted in a plea agreement that he and another individual transferred at least $21,992,037 in fraudulently obtained loan funds.
The money came from loans fraudulently obtained in Weston’s name and in the names of 26 other bank customers who were unaware their information was being used.
According to federal prosecutors, an individual employed at the bank processed the fraudulent loans and transferred the money from the bank’s general ledger into an account held by Weston.
Weston and his co-conspirator also had accounts, both individually and collectively, at an online brokerage based in New York.
Federal prosecutors intend to show at Weston’s sentencing that the full $21.99 million in fraudulently obtained loan funds was transferred from Weston’s bank account to accounts in his name at the online brokerage.
Weston specifically admitted to taking $20,000 of the fraudulently obtained loan funds and illegally transferring that money to an account at another bank.
Weston remains free on bond while awaiting sentencing.
Sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be scheduled after a presentence report is completed.
Weston faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General and the Sac County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ron Timmons and Dan Chatham are prosecuting the case.
