Christopher Scott Walters thought he was paying off all of his bills. Now, he's left owing an even bigger debt to society.
The owner of Walters Holdings LLC pleaded guilty on Nov. 23 to multiple fraud charges involving his misuse of insurance proceeds for fire damage to an apartment complex.
According to the facts filed with the court, Walters Holdings LLC obtained a commercial loan from Citibank for $7,840,000 to purchase a St. Louis County apartment complex called Ashby Heights. On Nov. 20, 2008, Ashby Heights was damaged by fire, and Walters filed an insurance claim to cover the damage. Citibank, however, held the lien on Ashby Heights at the time of the fire, so any insurance proceeds had to be retained by Citibank and disbursed as repairs were made.
In early 2009, Walters received insurance checks to cover the fire damage. Walters forged Citibank endorsements on the checks and instead used the proceeds for paying personal debts and expenses. He made mortgage payments and purchased a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. Citibank did not become aware of the fire until September 2009, well after the insurance checks had been issued and the proceeds used up by Walters.
Walters now faces charges for two felony counts of bank fraud, two felony counts of uttering forged securities and one count of unlawful monetary transactions before United States District Judge Audrey Fleissig. Sentencing has been set for Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012.
The maximum penalty for these charges ranges of 10 to 30 years in prison and fines up to $1 million.
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