Former college and NBA basketball player Rumeal Robinson was found guilty in federal court Wednesday of bank bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and making a false statement to a financial institution.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on all 11 counts against Robinson, who helped Michigan win the national title in 1989.
Evidence at trial showed that Robinson received the proceeds of a $377,000 business loan from Community State Bank in Ankeny on Oct. 26, 2004. The next day, he wired $100,000 to the personal bank account of Brian Williams, the Community State Bank loan officer who had authorized the loan. Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud shortly before the start of Robinson’s trial.
In connection with the $377,000 loan, Robinson stated on loan documents that the purpose of the loan would be “short term working capital” for his business, Megaladon Development, Inc., which was pursuing a development project in Jamaica.
However, he actually used a large portion of the loan proceeds to purchase a condominium for himself and his girlfriend and to furnish the condominium with plasma televisions and designer furniture. Robinson and his
girlfriend purchased the condominium in the girlfriend's name and claimed that she was the "Marketing Director" for Megaladon Development, with a salary in excess of $100,000. She actually worked in a strip club.
Following the $377,000 loan, Robinson received an additional business loan in the amount of $80,022 from Community State Bank in January 2005 even though he had not made any payments on the first loan. Williams was again the loan officer who approved the loan. The loan documents again stated that the purpose of the loan was business; however, Robinson used a large portion of the money on personal expenses, including cars, clothes, and more furniture.
Williams had a personal lending authority limit at Community State Bank of $500,000. Any loans to a single borrower above that amount would have to be approved by a loan committee. Following the January 2005 loan, Community State Bank loans to Robinson’s company totaled nearly $500,000 in outstanding principal and interest. Thus, he could not take out additional loans in his or his company’s name.
Williams and Robinson circumvented the lending authority limit of $500,000 by having the mother-in-law of Robinson's business partner, Jorge Rodriguez, sign the loan documents for a $150,000 loan in April 2005. The loan proceeds were wired directly to the bank account of Robinson's company, over which he had exclusive control. He spent more than $44,000 to buy or lease 10 vehicles, including five motorcycles. He also spent more than $3,000 at strip clubs, purchased a dog for
$1,000, and spent approximately $28,000 on condominium and house-related
payments.
It took him only 45 days to spend the entire $150,000.
Starting in July 2005, Robinson obtained three loans from Community State Bank, totaling $111,027.08, in the name of his girlfriend, Stephenie Hodge. Hodge’s name was used to circumvent Williams’ lending authority limit.
By November 2005, Robinson had received more than $700,000 in loans from Community State Bank but had not made any repayments.
Williams and Robinson became jointly involved in an energy project with a company called "Fairway Energy." Williams, with Robinson's knowledge and encouragement, loaned $495,000 to Fairway Energy in exchange for a promise of a $495,000 payment to Williams personally. Williams and Robinson expected that Williams would keep part of the $495,000 payment for himself but use most of it
to pay down the loans that had been made directly and indirectly to Robinson.
Williams later made an additional loan of $101,044 in connection with the Fairway Energy deal, again for the benefit of himself and Robinson. In January 2006, as part of the Fairway Energy project, Robinson arranged the sale of his mother's house in Cambridge, Mass, from Rodriguez, his business partner, to Stephen Hodge, his girlfriend's brother. Rodriguez had become the owner of the house in early 2004 because Robinson convinced his mother, Helen Ford, to allow him to use equity from the house for the Jamaica
project.
“This was a complicated case, but it arose from a very simple transaction: a bribe. Mr. Robinson could not get money through legitimate means, so he paid off the bank officer,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt said. “He also lied on bank documents, took advantage of people for their credit scores, and used a project in Jamaica as an excuse to ask people for money that, in reality, he planned to use for his own lavish lifestyle.”
Each of the 11 counts of conviction carries a maximum penalty of 30 years'
imprisonment and a fine of $1 million.