A Billings man who used a falsified bank loan to receive $50,000 admitted to charges Thursday, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.
Jordan Andrew Hennessy, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Hennessy faces up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, five years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided and sentencing was set for a later date. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters will determine a sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Hennessy was released pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that Hennessy, while employed by First Interstate Bank, falsified a loan application and awarded himself $50,000.
The incident began on March 11, 2022, when Hennessy was working as the commercial relationship manager for First Interstate Bank in Billings. From work, Hennessy submitted a commercial loan application for $100,000 under the name of his father’s business, Stillwater Group, LLC. In the application, Hennessy stated Stillwater Group would use the funds to develop real estate projects in Montana. He then opened a checking account, naming his father as a joint owner, on March 14, 2022.
Hennessy, as a First Interstate employee, was responsible for negotiating the counteroffer to his own loan request, which resulted in a $50,000 line of credit being issued to Stillwater Group. His position allowed him to be on both sides of the transaction, negotiating with himself. Once the $50,000 line of credit was funded, Hennessy transferred the Stillwater Group funds from the joint account he created with his father’s name into his personal checking account. Hennessy then used the funds to finance several transactions with an internet-based investment company and eventually defaulted on the $50,000 line of credit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich is prosecuting the case. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General and the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau conducted the investigation.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Montana — U.S. Department of Justice press release.