With fraudulent paperwork, Trell and Vinson set up corporate bank accounts for the businesses, and their investor deposited millions into those accounts over time. The pair also applied for and received multi-million-dollar bank loans—again using fraudulent paperwork—after citing the need for additional capital for the businesses.

Periodically, the investor would inquire about the financial state of the various corporate entities he had invested in, so Trell—with Vinson’s help—presented the investor with doctored accounting records to show that things were going well. They also moved money between corporate bank accounts to create the appearance that Trell was investing some of his own money into the businesses as well.

When all was said and done, the investor had turned over $20 million to Trell, and law enforcement was able to prove that Trell and Vinson personally profited more than $9 million from the scheme. Trell used some of the money to purchase a large home in the Atlanta area as well as a lake house; he also spent $80,000 on his daughter’s wedding and $50,000 for family vacations.

“Ironically, Trell also spent $1.7 million of his fraudulently obtained proceeds to settle those previous lawsuits filed against him alleging fraud,” said Cromer.

In addition, Trell allowed Vinson to dip into corporate bank accounts for several million dollars to use on a home she was building in nearby Tennessee.

Investigators interviewed the victim investor and the banks that provided the loans. But the forensic analysis of financial records was key to proving the criminal activity in this case.

And the help of the IRS in this area was invaluable. Explained Cromer, “The IRS involvement in this case was vital to its success—they did all the financial work associated with the bank records, which was very challenging because of the way that Trell and Vinson moved money between accounts in an effort to obscure their wrong-doing.”

Trell and Vinson were arrested in March 2016, and both eventually pleaded guilty to the scheme. Trell was sentenced to a five-year prison term this past February, while Vinson—who ended up cooperating with law enforcement—received a lighter sentence in March. Both have been ordered to pay more than $20 million in restitution.

“Trell had been perpetrating these same schemes over and over again for about 20 years without serious consequence, and he even managed to talk Vinson into helping him at some point,” said Cromer. “But eventually, his greed got the better of him. Fortunately, so did law enforcement.”