CEDAR FALLS – A former bank vice resident and lending officer who submitted false documents to the bank for whom he worked was sentenced to over a year in federal prison, but is still free and will surrender at some time.
Bradley Schlotfeldt, age 59, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 10, 2022 guilty plea to one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
Information from the plea agreement and at sentencing showed that Schlotfeldt made a false statement to the victim bank regarding a “Young Farmer” loan. Schlotfeldt completed and submitted to the victim bank a loan application indicating a particular individual was operating a farm when he knew the individual was not and had never done so. As a result, the victim bank loaned money to the individual, who eventually transferred the money to a different individual who did not use the money to farm or to pay off debt he had to the victim bank. The victim bank eventually lost $575,218 on the “Young Farmer” loan.
After discovering Schlotfeldt had submitted a false document for the “Young Farmer” loan, the victim bank discovered thirteen other loans in which Schlotfeldt falsified documents or violated bank policy. He did so in a variety of ways, including making it appear someone had signed a document when they had not, altering numbers to avoid greater scrutiny, and bypassing his direct supervisor who was more likely to recognize false numbers. In total, victim bank wrote off $6,738,290.35 in loans associated with Schlotfeldt.
Schlotfeldt was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Schlotfeldt was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $3,000,000 in restitution to the victim bank. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Schlotfeldt was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
