Ozarks businessman and banker Richard T. Gregg pleaded guilty Friday to two of 25 counts against him for alleged money laundering and bank, wire and bankruptcy schemes.
In the
April 3 plea in Springfield before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush, Gregg admitted he engaged in one count of bank fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Under the terms of the agreement, Gregg, 59, will be sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution to the victims of his fraud schemes. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled following the presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
Gregg was involved in a number of entities, including as principal shareholder and director of Southwest Community Bank in Springfield, which failed in May 2010, and shareholder of Glasgow Savings Bank, which failed in 2012. He also was a real estate developer, investor and a licensed insurance agent for Shelter Mutual Insurance Co, according to the release.
In the plea agreement, Gregg admitted the federal government could prove he substantially jeopardized Southwest Community Bank financially and was a direct component in its failure. The Springfield bank lost $679,399 on his personal line of credit and another $871,125 on a commercial real estate fraud scheme he perpetrated, according to the case notes.
Bank fraudGregg admitted he defrauded Great Southern Bank by selling the collateral used to secure a $2 million loan and keeping the proceeds, according to the release.
To secure the loan, he used 160,000 shares of stock for First Bancshares Inc., the holding company of First Homes Savings Bank, as collateral. He physically deposited the stock certificate with Great Southern and devised and executed a scheme to defraud the bank between May 6, 2009, and June 6, 2009, he admitted in his plea.
To accomplish the scheme, Gregg said he withdrew the stock certificate with $1.5 million remaining on the loan, signing an agreement to return it within 30 days. He instead deposited the stock into his Scottrade account, borrowed $440,000 from Scotttrade with the stock as collateral and never returned the stock to Great Southern, according to the release.
Bankruptcy fraudWhile under indictment for bankruptcy fraud related to the bankruptcy of his corporation, 1717 Market Place LLC, he filed a personal bankruptcy petition containing false declarations and concealed fraudulent property transfers, according to the release.
Gregg filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition March 19, 2013. Between Feb. 20, 2013, and Sept. 1, 2014, he schemed to defraud the bankruptcy court, U.S. Trustee and his creditors, according to his guilty plea.
As part of the scheme, Gregg admitted he transferred interest in two real estate parcels totaling over 100 acres in Nixa, and filed $250 million in bogus liens on his real and personal property to keep them away from creditors. He admitted the U.S. could prove he reported $45.8 million in unsecured debts to others, which he fraudulently attempted to have discharged in his personal bankruptcy case, according to the release.
Evidence for crimesIn addition to the two guilty counts, Gregg admitted the U.S. had the evidence to prove the conduct alleged against him, which includes two other bank fraud schemes, wire fraud schemes involving two casinos and money laundering.
His other alleged crimes include:
- defrauding Southwest Community Bank by selling a commercial real estate property for $1.6 million when it was actually worth less than half that amount;
- using collectible automobiles as collateral to obtain loans and then selling the cars before paying back the loans, defrauding Great Southern, Metropolitan National Bank and Peoples Bank of the Ozarks;
- bouncing checks at two Oklahoma casinos; and
- filing a fraudulent corporate bankruptcy petition.
Don Ledford, spokesman for Dickinson, said the bulleted crimes were not included in the plea agreement, but they would be considered as "relevant conduct" when the court issues its judgment at sentencing, both in terms of prison time and amount of restitution.
Ongoing conductAfter being indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2013, Gregg was released on bond, but he allegedly committed additional criminal offenses that led to a superseding indictment in July 2014, according to the release.
While in Greene County Jail, the government obtained and reviewed recordings of Gregg’s phone conversations revealing he committed new crimes from jail.
In November, the jury returning a second superseding indictment charging Gregg with additional crimes of bankruptcy fraud, according to the release.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-Office of Inspector General and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
