A former bank branch manager in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting Kansas City Chiefs playoffs tickets and a new Chevrolet Tahoe in exchange for facilitating a $12.4 million Covid fraud scheme by a Jefferson City, Mo., business owner, as well as a separate fraud scheme to receive unemployment benefits.
Anthony Omar Brockman, 48, who currently resides in Bennington, Nebraska, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to one count of wire fraud, one count of receiving gifts for procuring loans, and one count of money laundering.
Brockman was the branch manager of the Truman Hospital location of US Bank in Kansas City, Mo., until the COVID-19 pandemic caused the bank branch to close. Brockman was reassigned to US Bank’s Paycheck Protection Program project from April 12 through July 19, 2020. Brockman was then returned to his role as on-site manager at the Truman Hospital bank branch until May 22, 2021.
On March 27, 2020, The CARES Act established several new temporary programs and provided for the expansion of others to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these programs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) authorized forgivable loans to small businesses to retain workers and maintain payroll, make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments.
By pleading guilty, Brockman admitted that he assisted and facilitated fraudulent PPP loan applications for Tod Ray Keilholz, the owner of TRK Construction, LLC, TRK Valpo, LLC, TL Builders, LLC, and Project Design, LLC, in Jefferson City. Keilholz has been charged in a separate indictment for his role in a more than $27.1 million bank fraud scheme that included more than $12.4 million in PPP loans for his businesses.
According to that separate indictment, Keilholz received a total of $12,430,932 in PPP loans for his four businesses. In each of those loan applications, the indictment says, Keilholz failed to disclose his ownership in the other three businesses, and made materially false and fraudulent claims in the loan applications and supporting documentation. Keilholz allegedly inflated the income of those businesses and claimed payrolls for employees who did not exist or no longer worked for him.
Brockman admitted that he received gifts in exchange for assisting Keilholz in procuring those loans. On Nov. 4, 2020, Keilholz used PPP loan proceeds to pay for a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe that he gave to Brockman. Brockman admitted that the gift was intended to influence and reward him in connection with Keilholz’s applications for PPP loans and for the forgiveness of PPP loans.
Brockman also admitted that he received tickets from Keilholz to the Jan. 24, 2021, AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. In pleading guilty to money laundering, Brockman admitted that he signed an affidavit gifting the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe to Rich Girl, Rich Boy Prep, Inc., a charity of which his wife was the Chief Executive Officer. On May 25, 2021, Brockman transferred the title to the Tahoe to Rich Girl, Rich Boy Prep but continued to drive the Tahoe until he sold it in July 2022.
In pleading guilty to wire fraud, Brockman admitted that he fraudulently received $11,040 in unemployment benefits from March 27, 2020, to Nov. 4, 2021, while he was employed by US Bank. Brockman falsely claimed he was unemployed when he applied for unemployment benefits via the Internet, then repeated that false claim in 11 subsequent weekly online applications submitted to the state.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Brockman must pay the government a $84,582 money judgment, which represents the proceeds he obtained from the offenses.
Under federal statutes, Brockman is subject to a sentence of up to 70 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Oliver. It was investigated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-Office of Inspector General, the Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
