KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Georgia woman has been sentenced to more than a decade and ordered to repay nearly $1 million for a massive fraudulent loan scheme in east Tennessee.
Wynde Collins, 56of Atlanta, was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to 121 months on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
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Federal prosecutors presented evidence in court that Collins directed the plan from June 2014 to December 2019 to defraud financial institutions by providing employment, income and collateral information on auto loan and mortgage loan applications at credit unions and banks, including Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union and Y-, faked. 12 Federal Credit Union.
According to the US Department of Justice, Collins directed others, including co-conspirators, to launder the proceeds of loans from financial institutions. Over two million fraudulent loans were funded.
Investigators said they uncovered evidence during investigations into a major drug trafficking organization.
Collins was ordered to pay victims’ financial institutions a refund of $855,374.21 in the case and was ordered to withhold $100,000 of the fraud proceeds she personally earned.
“Collins’ fraud scheme has left individuals in financial difficulties and taken advantage of the loan
credit union practices while the defendant enriched himself,” said Francis M. Hamilton III, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. “It is vitally important that scammers like this exist.”
stopped and our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to take targeted action
criminal fraudulent activity.”
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“Illegal activities related to fraudulent loans have caused financial difficulties for banks and lenders
Unions and individual borrowers,” said Donald “Trey” Eakins III, IRS special agent at the Charlotte Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to using our accounting expertise to help solve complex fraud and money laundering schemes. We are proud to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those attempting to engage in fraudulent enrichment and to help put an end to this and other types of white-collar crime.”
co-defend AlvinJohnsonan auto broker who colluded with Collins has reached a settlement agreement with the US and is scheduled to be convicted on July 7, 2023.
