BILLINGS, Mont. – A North Dakota cattle buyer who drove bankers around eastern Montana showing them cattle he falsely claimed were his was jailed last week for 11 years for a $7.8 million scheme that defrauded two local credit unions and a bank.
Todd Horob, convicted of bank fraud bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, was also ordered to pay $6 million restitution to Dakota West CU, Wolfs Point FCU and Wells Fargo Bank.
Horob had formed H&J Livestock LLC with his partner and ranch hand, James Johnson, and borrowed more than $2 million from Dakota West CU, based in Watford City, N.D. Horob used Johnson's personal checking account with the Wolf Point FCU to launder money, prosecutors said.
In one instance, Horob used Johnson's account to redirect a Wells Fargo loan of $950,000 to buy 775 stock cows to pay off a loan of $858,543 that H&J had at Dakota West. But no cows were purchased. In another loan, Horob got $950,000 from Dakota West to buy 1,276 steers and provided the credit union with a fake buyer's bill for the purchase. Horob used most of the money for purchases unrelated to livestock.
Horob filed for bankruptcy in Montana in March 2006. Prosecutors say he made false statements and used another person’s identity in those proceedings to further defraud creditors.
