A former farmer from Shell Rock, Iowa, Mashon Van Mill, was sentenced on April 1 to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution.
The case highlights the risks banks face when individuals provide fraudulent information in loan applications. It also demonstrates the consequences of lying on financial documents and the efforts by law enforcement agencies to investigate such crimes.
According to court documents, Van Mill applied for a $1,000,000 farm operating line of credit at his local bank and submitted a balance sheet claiming he had over $2 million worth of corn in storage as collateral. In reality, he did not possess any corn. The deception came to light when a suspicious bank employee contacted the owner of an elevator where Van Mill claimed his corn was stored. The elevator owner denied both sending confirmation and having any corn belonging to Van Mill in storage at that time. Investigators later found that Van Mill had also misrepresented other assets and debts.
By the time the fraud was discovered, the bank had lent Van Mill $873,118.71 under the line of credit. He defaulted on this amount as well as several other loans from the same bank. During sentencing in Cedar Rapids before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams, Van Mill received six months’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay restitution totaling $873,118.71. At sentencing, it was noted that the victim bank had already recovered $258,110.17 through wage garnishments and property sales related to Van Mill.
Van Mill must also serve five years of supervised release following his prison term; there is no parole in federal cases. He remains free on bond until surrendering himself on April 27.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt with investigations conducted by both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
