WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Plainville, Kansas, man was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $7.2 million in restitution after being convicted by a federal jury of multiple fraud charges in a scheme that caused a loss of over $10 million to multiple banks.
Tyler Gillum was convicted of 31 counts of bank fraud, one count of making a false statement in connection with a Small Business Administration guaranteed loan, and one count of making a false statement in a loan or credit card application in April 2022.
Court documents and evidence presented at trial show Gillum owned and operated Plainville Livestock Commission, Inc. for 13 years, from 2006 to 2019. Between Jan. 2015 and August 2017, Gillum moved money between multiple banks in a scheme known as check kiting.
Check kiting happens when checks are continually written back and forth to “inflate” an account to look like there is more money than is actually there.
The scheme cost the banking system $10 million and led to the failure of the Plainville Livestock Commission.
Gillum was given a $1.5 million loan secured by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and a $500,000 line of credit from Almena State Bank, while withholding the information that he had signed a promissory note of approximately $6.1 million to TBK Bank in Dallas, Texas.
“Because of the defendant’s crimes, banks suffered millions of dollars in losses. These fraudulent acts should be of concern to everyone because the stability our nation’s banking system is vital to the financial health of this country,” U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard said.
Tyler’s wife, Camden, was a co-defendant in the case. In July 2020, the indictments against her were dismissed with prejudice.
