A former Fayetteville business owner pleaded innocent Monday in U.S. District Court to charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
Andrew Judkins, 41, of Bixby, Okla., was charged Dec. 11 in a 12-count superseding indictment with defrauding two local financial institutions, Bank of the Ozarks in Fayetteville and First Security Bank in Springdale, and two lending companies, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Inc. and GE Commercial Distribution Finance Corp.
Judkins was arraigned Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser in federal court in Fayetteville. He was released on $20,000 bond. The case is set for trial Feb. 10 before U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III in Fort Smith.
Judkins owned and operated A. Camp Equipment, a heavy-equipment sales and rental company in Fayetteville.
According to the superseding indictment, Judkins obtained "floor plan" financing from the two banks and the two lending companies to buy inventory such as dump trucks, bulldozers and tractors.
Floor plan financing is a revolving line of credit that allows a borrower to obtain financing for retail goods by using a specific piece of equipment as collateral for the loan. When each piece of equipment that collateralizes the floor plan is sold, the loan advance against that piece of equipment must be repaid.
Judkins didn't repay the banks and lending companies when he sold the equipment. Instead, he misled them by giving false equipment-rental agreements causing the lenders to believe their collateral was not sold, but simply being rented out to a third party, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge.
Judkins kept the proceeds from the equipment sales for his own personal use, according to the news release.
"Judkins knowingly submitted fraudulent documents to obtain a $500,000 advance on A. Camp Equipment's floor plan with First Security Bank and used the money from the floor plan financing agreement with First Security Bank to put a $207,905 down payment on a Beaver Lake home," according to the indictment. "Judkins also spent the loan proceeds on a $43,070 boat, a $47,000 automobile, a $17,286 home entertainment system and a $12,099 diamond ring, among other personal expenditures."
Judkins is charged with seven counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity.
The offenses for which Judkins is charged took place between Dec. 15, 2005, and Nov. 23, 2009, according to the indictment.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner is prosecuting the case for the United States.
NW News on 01/08/2014