Former Fayetteville Businessman Sentenced For Swindling Bank

Andrew C. Judkins, a former Fayetteville business owner convicted in March of two counts of bank fraud, was sentenced Sept. 4 to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay a $438,500 fine.

Judkins, who now lives in Bixby, Oklahoma, was found guilty earlier this year following a five-day jury trial before Judge Timothy L. Brooks in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

In the original 12-count indictment handed down in December 2013, Judkins was accused of defrauding Bank of the Ozarks and First Security Bank, and the lending companies Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Inc. and GE Commercial Distribution Finance Corp., in connection with his operation of a heavy equipment sales and rental company, A. Camp Equipment, on West Wedington Drive in Fayetteville.

Two superseding indictments were later filed, ultimately reducing the charges to five counts. The jury found Judkins not guilty on the remaining three.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that in June 2008, Judkins executed a scheme to defraud First Security Bank, with whom he had a “floor-plan” financing agreement, according to court documents. Floor-plan financing is a revolving line of credit that allows a borrower to obtain financing for retail goods by using a specific piece of equipment as collateral for the loan.

Judkins, according to court documents, submitted a fake invoice to the bank representing his company’s purchase of two dump trucks in the amount of $500,000.

In actuality, he bought the trucks in 2007 for $30,000 each.

Judkins, according to court documents, used the money he received to make a $207,905.30 down payment on a home on Beaver Lake. He also spent $43,069.96 to buy a Cobalt boat, $47,000 on a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, $17,286.15 for a home entertainment system and $12,099 for a diamond ring, among other personal expenditures.