INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors have charged an Indiana developer with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly writing 2,772 bad checks for $217 million.
Eric Tauer's company, Royal Haven, owned more than 300 properties in central Indiana when it filed for bankruptcy in 2002.
A federal grand jury indicted the 50-year-old developer for allegedly passing 2,772 bad checks in a three-month period in 2001 when his company was in financial trouble and owed banks $50 million. The indictment said Tauer used a computer spreadsheet to keep track of checks written on seven accounts, shifting money back and forth in a circular scheme between five different banks.
The average daily overdraft was at least $2 million for months.
"This is the largest check-kite case we have seen in this district," Susan Brooks, the U.S. Attorney for Southern Indiana, told the Indianapolis Star.
