01/26/2023

Cedar Falls Man Sentenced to Federal Prison in Check Kiting Scheme

U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Iowa

A Cedar Falls man who kited checks in a bank fraud scheme was sentenced on January 24, 2023, to one year and one day in prison.  Nolan Otto DeWall, age 39, received the prison term after a June 7, 2022 guilty plea to one count of bank fraud.

Evidence at hearings in DeWall’s case established that DeWall was a manager and shareholder at a Black Hawk County grain cooperative.  DeWall also was a part owner of a trucking company based in Dike, Iowa.  In May 2018, DeWall devised a so-called “check kiting” scheme in which he transferred large amounts of funds by check during a short period of time between accounts of the grain cooperative and the trucking company, as well as other accounts.  The checks had no legitimate business purpose but were instead designed to falsely and temporarily inflate the balances of the accounts to benefit the grain cooperative, which was in financial distress.  DeWall also forged the signature of one of the partners in the trucking company on a check.  When the check-kiting scheme collapsed, the trucking company’s account was left with a negative $247,000 balance.  As a result, the trucking company had to sell all its assets and went defunct.  One of DeWall’s partners in the trucking business had to file for personal bankruptcy and another partner was forced to repay the trucking company’s negative bank balance at its bank with personal funds and a loan.

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