After Defrauding Bank Of $20M With His Father, Ellenton Man Gets 6.5 Years In Prison: DOJ

TAMPA, FL — An Ellenton man will spend six years and six months in prison after collaborating with his father to defraud a bank of more than $20 million.

Loyd Tomlinson II, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington in Tampa Thursday for defrauding a federally insured financial institution, the Department of Justice said in a news release. He was also fined $240,000, the proceeds of the wire fraud. He pleaded guilty Sept. 28.

According to court documents, Tomlinson II and his father, Loyd Tomlinson Sr., owned and operated LTA International Global Services LLC, a distribution company.

In 2015, the company began having severe financial problems. In 2016, the father and son devised a plan to fabricate documents and records to raise money from investors and financial institutions in hopes of salvaging LTA’s business, the DOJ said.

Tomlinson II and others created fake bank statements, inflated sales, accounts receivable and inventory documents. They also borrowed money from private investors, who were often provided these fake documents, as off-the-book loans, and used other entities as possible alter egos to raise money or divert sales off the books and conceal from others the true facts about the financial state of LTA, the DOJ said.

Based on these false statements and representations, around July 2019, a bank made a loan to LTA for approximately $20.6 million, which was not recovered.

His father pleaded guilty for his involvement in the scheme on Aug. 5. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 25.