DES MOINES, Iowa – A federal grand jury in Des Moines has returned an indictment charging 18 individuals with offenses related to bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa today (Monday), said as alleged in the Indictment, Defendants orchestrated a nationwide scheme to defraud financial institutions and draw funds from stolen business checks. Defendants, located across the country, first obtained the stolen checks from uncharged co-conspirators.

They then registered sham entities with the IRS and state government agencies—including the Iowa Secretary of State—with names which were identical or similar to the legitimate recipients of the checks. After obtaining registration documents and IRS employer identification numbers, Defendants opened or attempted to open accounts at banks and credit unions in the names of the sham entities, intending to deposit the stolen checks. While attempting to open the accounts, Defendants made material misrepresentations to or concealed material facts from the banks and credit unions.

The Indictment alleges that once Defendants were able to open the accounts for the sham entities, they deposited or attempted to deposit the stolen checks in the accounts. If the deposit was successful, Defendants withdrew large amounts of cash from the accounts and/or obtained cashier’s or official checks from the accounts. Defendants distributed the proceeds among their co-conspirators.

Oftentimes, Defendants obtained cashier’s or official checks written to sham entities that were created for the purpose of laundering stolen check proceeds. Defendants used the money obtained from the stolen business checks for their personal benefit and purposes.

The Indictment alleges the Defendants’ conduct affected at least twelve business victims and at least fourteen financial institution victims. Defendants and their co-conspirators attempted to deposit at least $10 million worth of stolen checks into fraudulent accounts and were able to obtain at least $2.1 million in proceeds from their criminal conduct.

If convicted, Defendants face a maximum penalty of thirty years in prison on counts alleging bank fraud or bank fraud conspiracy and ten years in prison on counts alleging money laundering or money laundering conspiracy.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case with assistance from the Postal Inspection Service, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Secret Service, as well as with assistance from numerous state and local agencies. Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle Essley, Kristin Herrera, and Joseph Lubben are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – A new state-by-state report on adult and childhood obesity will be released this week, and Iowa health officials are hoping to see improvement after a poor showing last year. Ellen Compton, a registered dietician with Gundersen Health, says Iowa parents who are packing their kids’ lunches can make eating healthy a priority.

“It just takes a little bit more prep work,” Compton says, “so making sure that you are preparing things like fruits and vegetables in advance and pre-packaging them into little Ziploc bags, having them available and ready, so that you can just grab that from the fridge, instead of something like a bag of chips.” Compton says the same goes for snacks, and rather than letting kids dive into a big bag of munchies, portion out their helpings in advance, and focus on healthy.

“Trail mix is a great one. It helps to keep kids feeling full, and sometimes can add a little sweet treat in there with some chocolate chips, and just making sure that you’re packaging them in appropriate portion sizes,” Compton says, “so typically, following the serving size on the back of the package is a good idea.” She encourages parents to send their kids off to school with a lunch that’s nutritious, and size-appropriate — not too much food, and not too little.

“Make sure that you have your fresh foods in there, like fruits and vegetables, kind of catering a little bit to what your kids like, so they’re more likely to eat what you pack them,” Compton says, “and making sure that there’s some sort of a protein in there. Protein is going to help to keep them feeling fuller for longer.”

Last year’s report from Trust for America’s Health found Iowa’s adult obesity rate held steady at 37-percent. Colorado had the nation’s lowest obesity rate at 25-percent, while West Virginia was highest at 41-percent.