U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a man from Maurice was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for submitting false receipts in order to draw more than $1.2 million from a bank line of credit.
Richard J. Viator Jr., 53, of Maurice, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of bank fraud. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $1,227,908.54 in restitution.
According to the Jan. 10, guilty plea, Viator was the owner/president of the oilfield company Safety Analysis Team Inc. located in Abbeville. Viator had a revolving line of credit for $2 million at an Abbeville bank. In order to access the credit, he was required to submit receipts. From Nov. 4, 2010, to Feb. 23, 2011, Viator received 11 draws or payments from the line of credit based on false and fraudulent invoices, which purported to be accounts receivable from various companies for work performed by Safety Analysis Team.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and Kelly P. Uebinger prosecuted the case.