Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 3-10-17

Crime Stop
Siblings Plead Guilty To Bank Fraud Conspiracy
Last week, a U. S. District Judge sentenced a man to serve time in federal prison for bank fraud. His sister is sched- uled for sentencing on March 2oth.
According to court docu- ments, David Chambers Opembe, 25, of Houston, Texas entered a guilty plea on November 14, 2016.
U. S. District Judge Vir- ginia Covington sentenced him to 3 years in federal prison last Friday. The Court also or- dered him to for- feit $252,107.07, which are traceable to proceeds of the of- fense.
His sister, Ms. Ebony Chambers Stillwell, 35, en- tered a guilty plea to the charges on October 25, 2016, and is scheduled to be sen- tenced on March 20th.
According to court docu- ments, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In December 2014, Ms. Stillwell began working as the onsite manager for St. Giles Manor, an apartment complex located in Pinellas Park. St. Giles Manor, which was man- aged by SPM Property Man- agement, was being refurbished.
As part of her duties, Ms. Stillwell received and processed invoices from ven- dors and contractors for pay- ment.
During the refurbishment, SPM and St. Giles Manor con- tracted with Erickson’s Drying Systems, a cleaning and restoration company, based in
DAVID CHAMBERS OPEMBE
Ft. Myers. Prior to this work, Erickson’s submitted invoices for payment to St. Giles Manor and Ms. Stillwell that were paid by checks from an SPM LLC bank account.
On January 22, 2015, Opembe registered a shell company called Erickson’s Drying Systems with the Harris County Clerk in Texas. On the same date, he opened a bank account at Regions Bank in the name of Erickson’s Drying Sys- tems, listing himself as the sole signatory on the account and his home address in Texas.
No one at the actual Erick- son’s in Ft. Myers was aware of or approved the establishment of the Texas corporation or business bank account.
Between January 22, 2015, and October 23, 2015, Ms. Stillwell caused to be issued approximately 21 checks from the SPM disbursing account to the “fake” Erickson’s Drying Systems. She facilitated the au- tomated issuance of these
EBONY CHAMBERS STILLWELL
checks by submitting fabri- cated invoices that she altered using prior legitimate invoices from Erickson’s.
Ms. Stillwell directed that all of these checks be delivered to her office, rather than mailed to Erickson’s in Ft. Myers. She then deposited those checks into the “fake” Er- ickson’s bank account opened by her brother at Regions Bank.
Once the funds were de- posited into the Erickson’s ac- count at Regions Bank, Opembe withdrew cash and transferred funds to his per- sonal checking account.
The Erickson’s account at Regions was also used by Opembe and Ms. Stillwell to make their car payments and for other personal expenses.
In total, approximately $262,067 in fraudulently ob- tained checks were deposited into the “fake” Erickson’s Re- gions Bank account by Opembe and Ms. Stillwell.
Brothers Sentenced To Prison For Tax Fraud
KEITH GODBOLT
Two Tampa brothers learned that they will serve prison time earlier this week. Their mother, Ms. Elise Ellis, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 20th. She entered a guilty plea on January 3, 2017.
On Monday, U. S. District
Judge James D. Whitte- more sentenced Paul John- son, 26, to four years in prison. His brother, Keith Godbolt, 36, was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Godbolt and John- son entered guilty pleas in December 2016.
As part of their sentence, the Court also entered joint and several money judgments in the amount of $221,000, representing the proceeds of the tax fraud conspiracy.
According to court docu- ments, from August 2011 until April 2013, Godbolt, John- son, and Ms. Ellis conspired to commit wire fraud, theft of government funds, and iden-
PAUL CURTIS JOHNSON
tity theft by electronically fil- ing fraudulent tax returns in the names of other people, using the social security num- bers of those individuals. Some of their victims were de- ceased and others lived in other states.
The false refunds were de- posited into bank accounts in their names or in some cases, downloaded onto debit cards in their control.
The three then divided the money by writing checks, transferring funds to each other through bank transfers, or through cash withdrawals.
Most of the fraudulently filed tax returns claimed un- usually high taxable interest or dividend income. In many occasions, they used the exact same figure, with a large with- holding amount, and a false occupation for the taxpayer.
All three were indicted by the Grand Jury for conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of govern- ment funds, and aggravated identity theft in August 2016.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017