Peoria man sentenced to prison for fraud and money laundering in Bowen building

On October 29, 2024By Karl

PEORIA, Illinois (WMBD) — Last week, two Peoria men were sentenced to time in federal prison for defrauding banks over several years.

He is also accused of defrauding the village of Bartonville of nearly $400,000 resulting from the demolition of the Bowen building. The demolition of the building has long been a sore point for the village, which tried to redevelop it for years before hoping they could make money from selling the stone.

Peoria man charged with multiple crimes in bank fraud scheme

Instead, federal court records show that Chad Campen and Richard Weiss, among others, fooled the village by convincing the village board to lend them money.

“. . . According to federal documents, Defendant had assured the Village that he would recoup its loans and bonds because he had buyers for the limestone at a significant profit.” “This was, of course, completely false because Defendant had no buyers for this stone and did not sell any stone.

“Nevertheless, this became an ‘asset’ with which he could seek to further expand his credit at other institutions,” the document said.

Campen was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison, while Weiss was sentenced to 15 months. Both were sentenced Thursday by Senior U.S. District Judge James Shadid.

Campen, who is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, will begin serving his sentence immediately. Weiss, who was released on bail, will surrender voluntarily shortly after the first of the year.

The judge also ordered Campen to pay $6.4 million in damages and Weiss to pay approximately $4.4 million in damages. Some of those dollar amounts overlapped, according to federal court records.

In that case He pleaded guilty in FebruaryWeiss admitted to conspiring with Campen to create false and fraudulent documents. He said that under Campen’s instructions, he prepared false bank statements, tax returns and other documents to mislead banks and other third parties.

Specifically, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors say Weiss’s scheme with Campen began in or around August 2015 and continued until about January 2022, during which Weiss and Campen used various financial institutions, including Community State Bank, headquartered in Galva, Illinois. He said that they deliberately made a plan to defraud through their branches and banks. Offices in central Illinois.

Campen, on the other hand, He filed a lawsuit a month later against charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud and perjury.

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors described how Campen defrauded a family from the family farm by taking lines of credit that he claimed he would repay. They had to put up the farm as collateral and when things went bad they lost the farm.

At his plea hearing, Campen admitted to defrauding numerous banks and other investors by lying about his business activities and success and by preparing false and forged documents. Campen received goods, services, and funds from individuals and businesses throughout central Illinois, as well as money from various financial institutions.

Bartonville had filed a lawsuit in Peoria County Circuit Court against one of Weiss’ companies with ties to the Bowen building, a 122-year-old structure on the site of the former state mental hospital.

Weiss and Campen had plans to turn the building into a haunted house and tourist attraction. This did not happen, and the village agreed to lend them money to demolish it, thinking they would be able to recoup the costs incurred from selling the old limestone.

This case is still pending in Peoria County.

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