A 53-year-old North Carolina man has been handed a three-year prison sentence for violating the terms of his supervised release and structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
Ricky Lamont Congleton pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 9, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
In October 2014, Congleton was sentenced to 66 months in prison for orchestrating a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme that involved using straw buyers to purchase properties developed by him and others. The properties were then sold at a discount, with the down payments being concealed from banks through the help of a co-conspiring attorney.
Upon his release from prison — and while still under federal supervision — authorities opened an investigation into Congleton’s cash transactions. It was revealed that he moved significant sums of cash into various bank accounts to purchase new properties.
To avoid reporting requirements, Congleton broke down approximately $100,000 in cash into smaller amounts and deposited them into different banks in different cities. Breaking up cash transactions to evade reporting requirements — known as “structuring” — is a federal criminal offense.
During sentencing, Congleton received the maximum penalty within the guideline range, resulting in 24 months in prison, with an additional consecutive year for committing the offense while on supervised release. Furthermore, he was sentenced to three more years of supervised release.
He’s hardly the only North Carolina resident to face the music for fraud.
In May, an appraiser in North Carolina faced five years in prison for conspiring in a massive $1.3 billion tax fraud scheme.
Walter Roberts II pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice announced.
The fraud started in 2008, one year after Roberts became a licensed appraiser, according to court documents and statements. In 2007, he started appraising conservation easements, which are specified areas of land earmarked for environmental conservation. Owners with conservation easements can claim an income tax deduction.