https://www.25newsnow.com/2024/02/16/peoria-man-pleads-guilty-conspiring-commit-bank-fraud-money-laundering/

PEORIA (25News Now) - A Peoria man pleaded guilty Friday to one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

At the hearing of Richard Weiss, 62, of the 1500 block of North Knoxville, Weiss admitted that he conspired with another federal defendant, Chad D. Campen, who was charged separately with multiple felony offenses, to create false and fraudulent documents, according to a Department of Justice release.

Weiss admitted that he created, at Campen’s direction, false bank statements, tax returns, and other documents for the express purpose of deceiving banks and other third parties.

The government stated that he had gone into business with Campen and allowed Campen to corrupt him into creating false documents which artificially inflated Camen’s apparent wealth and success.

This included Weiss altering bank statements for Campen to make it appear that the account held approximately $200,000 more than it contained, the DOJ said.

Weiss’ scheme with Campen began in or around August 2015, continuing to about January 2022, during which Weiss and Campen knowingly engaged in a scheme to defraud several financial institutions, including Community State Bank, headquartered in Galva, Illinois, with branches and offices throughout Central Illinois.

Weiss faces statutory penalties of up to 30 years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines and 5 years of supervised release on the bank fraud charge, and up to 20 years imprisonment, up to $500,000 in fines or twice the value of the property involved in the transactions and up to 5 years of supervised release on the money laundering charge.

Weiss will be sentenced after Campen’s trial concludes.

Campen’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 8.