MADISON, WIS. - Jeffrey M. Anderson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced today an indictment charging Allen Foster, 53, Sun Prairie, Wis., with defrauding Smart Motors, Inc., a car dealership located in Madison. The indictment was returned on October 11 by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison, and was unsealed today following Foster’s arrest. The indictment charges Foster with 12 counts of wire fraud and eight counts of money laundering.
Foster was arrested yesterday at his home in Sun Prairie. He made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Madison today.
The indictment alleges that from May 2004 to May 2016, Allen Foster, while employed as the General Manager at Smart Motors, devised a scheme to defraud the business. The indictment alleges that Foster opened a checking account in the name of a fictitious business, Creative Marketing Solutions, which was a name similar to a genuine vendor of Smart Motors, and submitted check request forms to cause Smart Motors to issue checks payable to the fictitious company, supposedly for payment for direct mail or other advertising costs.
The indictment alleges that Foster directed employees of Smart Motors to deliver directly to him the checks that were issued to Creative Marketing Solutions based on the false check request forms, rather than mailing the checks as was Smart Motors’ practice for payment of its vendors.
The 12 counts of wire fraud involve 12 separate checks generated by Smart Motors to Creative Marketing Solutions, totaling $122,925. The eight counts of money laundering involve financial transactions totaling $55,600.
The indictment further alleges that Foster used money paid by Smart Motors to Creative Marketing Solutions to finance his personal expenses, including payments to multiple women Foster met online and for real property in La Valle, Wis. and Sun Prairie. The indictment alleges that Foster made payments to women he met online using checks issued by Smart Motors, misrepresenting to Smart Motors that the payments were for marketing or advertising activity.
If convicted, Foster faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count in the indictment. The charges against him are the result of an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Halverson.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
