EUGENE, Ore. – A well-known auto dealer on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a check kiting scheme that passed some $19 million between Northwest Community CU and PremierWest Bank, eventually costing $3 million in losses to both lenders.
David Gilbert, 64, president of Horizon Honda Mazda, used the kiting scheme to keep his failing dealership afloat. “Almost every workday morning, Gilbert met with his bookkeeper to discuss the account balances of the checking accounts,” according to court documents.
By kiting almost 500 checks, Gilbert admitted that he, in effect, was able to obtain a series of unauthorized, unsecured, and interest-free loans from the credit union and the bank, which put them at risk for the insufficient funds and deprived them of their assets.
To conceal his check-kiting scheme, Gilbert caused the kited checks to be written for amounts that were consistent with prior legitimate deposits, to be bundled or grouped when deposited, and to be deposited at certain times to keep the kited checks from being returned for insufficient funds.
Gilbert is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18.
