FAYETTEVILLE -- A businessman convicted of bank fraud earlier this year in federal court was sentenced Friday to a year in prison and ordered to repay almost $500,000.
Andrew C. Judkins, 43, of Bixby, Okla., formerly of Fayetteville, was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $438,500 in restitution.
Judkins was convicted of two counts of bank fraud involving a heavy equipment business following a five-day jury trial in March.
Judkins was convicted of swindling First Security Bank. Judkins regularly bought inventory using a revolving line of credit allowing a borrower to obtain financing for retail goods by using a specific piece of equipment as collateral for a loan.
Judkins submitted a fake invoice in 2008 to the bank for $500,000 representing A. Camp Equipment's purchase of two dump trucks, according to court documents. Judkins bought the two trucks in 2007 for $30,000 each.
Judkins owned A. Camp Equipment in Fayetteville, which sold, rented and serviced new and used heavy equipment, such as dump trucks and bulldozers.
In August 2009, Judkins defrauded First Security by giving a bank employee a fraudulent rental agreement showing one of the dump trucks had been rented to a construction company in Sallisaw, Okla. The false rental agreement concealed that one of the dump trucks was sold in July 2008 for $74,000 without Judkins repaying the bank.
U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyra Jenner and Steve Snyder prosecuted the case.
NW News on 09/05/2015