A contractor accused of defrauding homeowners, vendors and employees throughout the Flathead Valley and elsewhere has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
Craig Mark Draper, represented by a public defender, entered his plea on May 24 in U.S. District Court in Missoula before Judge Kathleen DeSoto. A preliminary pretrial conference is set for June 2. Draper was released without conditions and is not in custody.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot also filed a notice this week of his intention to introduce evidence of similar crimes and acts perpetrated by Draper in the past, including felony convictions in Wyoming in 2004 and 2006 for fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Racicot will additionally present evidence of a “similar scheme to defraud” that Draper “perpetrated in Sheridan, Wyoming, from approximately 2014-2017, which did not result in the filing of criminal charges.”
Draper was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 28 for 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering for executing “a material scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, and omissions, and in doing so caused wire communications to be transmitted in interstate commerce.”
Court documents identify 10 transactions constituting wire fraud from Nov. 1, 2017 to Oct. 24, 2018 at several different Flathead Valley banks. The indictment also identifies two separate instances in November 2017 of money laundering in which Draper “knowingly engaged in a monetary transaction involving property,” with “such money having been derived from specified unlawful activity” of wire fraud.
The wire fraud charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release. The money laundering charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release.
More than 150 people are members of a Facebook page established for Draper victims, and numerous civil complaints have been filed against him. One litigant was awarded nearly $450,000 in damages by Flathead County District Court. Total losses are estimated to be in the millions, including life savings and homes.
The federal indictment mirrors the complaints of individual victims, accusing Draper, who operated as ADI Builders and other businesses, of receiving “money from customers in exchange for his promise to provide certain materials and perform certain work.”
“Instead of providing the promised materials and performing the promised work, Draper used the money for unrelated business and personal expenses, including expenditures associated with leasing and operating a racetrack,” according to court charging documents. “To further execute the material scheme and artifice to defraud, Draper failed to pay vendors for construction materials and failed to fully compensate the employees engaged in the construction business.”
"wire" - Google News
May 29, 2021 at 05:36AM
https://ift.tt/3p1AA6d
Contractor Pleads Not Guilty to Wire Fraud and Money Laundering - Flathead Beacon
"wire" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YtvSDd
https://ift.tt/2VUOqKG
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Contractor Pleads Not Guilty to Wire Fraud and Money Laundering - Flathead Beacon"
Post a Comment