COFFEE COUNTY: Car Dealer Vs. Bank in Court

October 14, 2009

A former Tullahoma businessman is facing serving several years in federal prison after being found guilty of bank fraud in federal court last week. According to court documents, Randy Roberts, the former owner of the AutoSmart car sales in Tullahoma and Cookeville was found guilty of seven of the 41 counts of bank fraud.

The conviction came after testimony by several witnesses including a former bookkeeper of the company. Linda Sue Green, who was the bookkeeper for Roberts, testified in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga that Roberts devised a scheme where he purchased vehicles with money loaned to him by Lincoln County Bank. Federal prosecutors alleged that when officials of Lincoln County Bank visited his business and checked the inventory, they were told that the vehicles were either being test driven, repaired or cleaned when in fact Roberts had sold the vehicles.

Testimony during the trial indicated that the Bank of Lincoln County lost some $400,000 as the result of the scheme. Roberts faces a maximum of 30 years in federal custody on each of the seven counts, but he is not expected to receive that severe of a sentence. -WMSR News

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