DAVENPORT, IA - On Jan. 26, 2017, Thomas D. Gretter, 66, formerly of Washington, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger to 13 months in federal prison for two counts of making a false statement to a financial institution, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. The 13-month sentences were ordered to be served at the same time. Gretter was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term, pay $200 to the Crime Victims’ Fund, and pay a total of $1,185,704.77 in restitution to Hills Bank & Trust Company (“Hills Bank").
Gretter pleaded guilty to these charges on Sept. 20, 2016. According to the plea agreement, on or about Dec. 18, 2013, and October 6, 2014, Gretter obtained loans from Hills Bank. As security for each of these loans, Gretter pledged multiple items of collateral that he knew included false statements, and were unavailable to Hills Bank as security. Specifically, Gretter forged the signatures of multiple people on items of pledged collateral and provided those documents to Hills Bank in order to influence Hills Bank to make the loans.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Learn more about this release by contacting Rachel J. Scherle at 515-473-9300, or by emailing her at Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
