David John Ridling of Vero Beach, FL, was indicted this month for his alleged connection to a scheme to defraud multiple banks, a financial services provider, and a business out of more than $50 million.
Ridling, 57, was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, nine counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. It is unclear if he has acquired the services of an attorney.
According to the indictment, Ridling is accused of attempting to defraud five banks, one financial services provider, and a local business in Orlando out of more than $50 million. The alleged scheme, which ran for the past three years, involved the use of fabricated tax returns, false brokerage account statements, and false financial statements to acquire lines of credit and loans.
Ridling purportedly claimed that certain unnamed individuals were his representatives at a financial brokerage company. He used the email addresses of those representatives and pretended to be them in order to convince banks that he had millions of dollars in his two brokerage accounts, according to the indictment.
In reality, Ridling only had one brokerage account, which never had a balance of more than $2,000. He reportedly used the money he obtained from his victims to pay the amounts he owed other victims and further prolong the alleged scheme.
The financial institutions, financial services provider, and local business named in the indictment are Heritage Bank, Seaside Bank, Farm Credit of Florida, Seacoast Bank, AgAmerica, Rabo Agrifinance, and Howard Fertilizer. Ridling controlled and operated Blue Cypress Grain LLC, and had brokerage accounts with Charles Schwab and PNC Bank. He is believed to have ran the scheme from November 2016 to October 2019.
If convicted, Ridling faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, 30 years for each count of bank fraud, 10 years for each count of money laundering, and a mandatory penalty of two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft. Ridling will also be required to forfeit any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged scheme.
Bank fraud is commonly prosecuted as a federal offense because it covers a broad array of conduct. Federal prosecutors use it as a way to prosecute a broad array of banking-related offenses, including check fraud, credit card fraud, fraudulent loans, identity theft, mortgage theft, and phishing and internet banking fraud.
Defending against bank fraud charges isn’t easy, which is why it is crucial for a defendant to hire a competent attorney who has tried and tested ways of dealing with such cases. Given how severe the consequences for failure in a bank fraud case are, an attorney must be able to properly analyze the evidence and produce an unbiased and realistic assessment of a defendant’s chances of winning at trial.
South Florida Bank Fraud Attorney
If you are involved in a bank fraud case, then you should hire an attorney. Contact Brian Silber, P.A. to set up a free initial consultation and work with one of South Florida’s most experienced bank fraud attorneys.
Source: 11.19.19 vero beach man charged with more than $50 million in attempted fraud.pdf