N.J. man, 73, pleads guilty to multi-million dollar bank fraud
Updated Feb 20, 2021;
A Warren County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to bank fraud for his part in a “three-phase” scheme to deceive a bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, authorities said.
Gary Ketchum, 73, of Hackettstown, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false entries to defraud First State Bank and the FDIC, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said in a statement.
The multi-part scheme, which ran from 2009 to 2010, initially involved a fraudulent infusion of $7 million in cash into First State Bank, authorities previously said.
The next step was for the alleged team of fraudsters to arrange for loans against the cash, authorities said. The crew also lied to the bank and to the FDIC to cover up and sustain the fraud, authorities said.