JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A Carrollton man pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to court documents, Robert Earl Givens, Jr., 49, participated in a scheme to defraud multiple banks by obtaining fraudulent heavy equipment loans.

U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca said Givens, along with four co-conspirators, used fraudulent bills of sale and other false and misleading documents to secure loans for heavy equipment. 

The participants in the scheme posed as both the buyers and the sellers of the heavy equipment, with Givens generally posing as the buyer. According to LaMarca, this allowed Givens to obtain the money from the loan, even when the banks disbursed the loan money directly to the purported seller of the heavy equipment. 

The fraudulent loans were not paid off and the various financial institutions have been forced to charge off those unpaid loan amounts. The overall scheme caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary damages to the affected financial institutions.

Givens will be sentenced on a later date and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

“The United States Attorney’s office will continue to prosecute these fraudsters who use schemes instead of firearms to take money from financial institutions,” said LaMarca. “We are appreciative of the thorough investigation by the FBI which led to a successful prosecution.”

The case was investigated by the FBI.