A Mississippi man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans from multiple banks.

According to court documents and facts admitted by the defendant in open court, Robert Earl Givens, Jr., 49, participated in a scheme to defraud multiple banks by obtaining fraudulent heavy equipment loans.

Givens, along with four co-conspirators, used fraudulent bills of sale and other false and misleading documents to secure loans for heavy equipment.  The participants in the scheme posed as both the buyers and the sellers of the heavy equipment, with Givens generally posing as the buyer.  This allowed Givens to obtain the money from the loan, even when the banks disbursed the loan money directly to the purported seller of the heavy equipment.

The fraudulent loans were not paid off and the various financial institutions have been forced to charge off those unpaid loan amounts.  The overall scheme caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary damages to the affected financial institutions.

Givens will be sentenced on a later date and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“The United States Attorney’s office will continue to prosecute these fraudsters who use schemes instead of firearms to take money from financial institutions,” said United States Attorney LaMarca. “We are appreciative of the thorough investigation by the FBI which led to a successful prosecution.”

“Mr. Robert Earl Givens, Jr. deliberately sought to circumvent the proper banking process through his elaborate criminal scheme,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby. “His actions ripped at the fiber of our economic system, which relies on integrity to sustain our nation’s free market. The FBI takes fraudulent activity very seriously and remains committed to pursuing those bad actors who conspire in this type of criminal activity for their personal gain.”

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Kirkham is prosecuting the case.