Source: United States Department of Justice News
A trio of defendants who played various roles in defrauding First State Bank of Commerce, Oklahoma, have been sentenced in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
The check kiting scheme was carried out by two cattle dealers, John Theodore Linthicum, 53, and Douglas Todd Mayfield, 53, and a bank employee, Angela Gayle Asbell, 61, from October 2016 to January 2017. The bank lost approximately $1.2 million as a result of the scheme.
According to court documents, in the fall of 2016, Linthicum, experienced dwindling cash flow in his cattle business, so he had Mayfield write NSF checks that Linthicum deposited into his bank account. Mayfield provided numerous insufficiently funded checks from his accounts at another bank. Many times he provided signed blank checks, and Linthicum filled in the amounts payable to himself. The checks generally ranged between $100,000 and $375,000. Both men knew that Mayfield did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks.
Asbell was a cashier and branch manager at First State Bank but also maintained books and records for Linthicum’s cattle business. In her position at the bank, Asbell knowingly and improperly authorized immediate credit for the bogus checks and fraudulently authorized Linthicum to wire funds and buy cashier’s checks with the fictitious credit balances in his account even though she knew the money was not there.
The defendants were charged separately and all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Linthicum was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2022, to 27 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
On June 29, 2022, Mayfield was sentenced to six months of home detention followed by three years of supervised release.
Finally, Asbell was sentenced on July 7, 2022, to five months in federal prison followed by five months of home detention and three years of supervised release.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-Office of Inspector General and Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin C. Leitch, Vani Singhal and David D. Whipple prosecuted the case.