Ex-Kansas City bank manager pleads guilty in $12.4M COVID fraud scheme, feds say

Bill Lukitsch
·2 min read
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A former Kansas City branch manager for U.S. Bank admitted to three felonies stemming from a $12.4 million fraud scheme that targeted government programs meant to help business owners recover during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal prosecutors.

Anthony Omar Brockman, 48, of Bennington, Nebraska, pleaded guilty during a hearing Tuesday to wire fraud, taking gifts — including Kansas City Chiefs playoffs tickets and a brand-new SUV — in exchange for procuring loans and money laundering. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 70 years without the possibility of parole, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

Prosecutors say Brockman helped Tod Ray Keilholz, a 60-year-old developer based in Jefferson City, obtain fraudulent bank loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established under the federal CARES Act. Fraudulent applications that were approved included falsehoods about the number of people Keilholz employed and other financial information about the businesses, according to prosecutors.

Keilholz is charged in a separate federal indictment alleging the theft of $27 million in government funds overall. The fraud scheme is tied in part to a $3.5 million loan and line of credit for an unfinished commercial real estate development in northwestern Indiana.

Keilholz has remained in federal custody pending trial since September 2022.

In his plea agreement, Brockman admitted to accepting a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe that was paid for by Keilholz with a $73,543 cashier’s check made out to the car dealer. It was registered to a nonprofit Brockman’s wife ran called Rich Girl, Rich Boy Prep, Inc., a charity that was administratively dissolved in December 2022, according to records with the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.

Another bribe, according to prosecutors, involved tickets bought by Keilholz for the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills on Jan. 24, 2021.

Overall, Brockman admitted to assisting with the fraud scheme from December 2020 through April 2021. He agreed to pay the government $84,582 as part of his plea deal, representing the estimated amount he received through the fraud.

A sentencing hearing for Brockman had yet to be scheduled Wednesday.

In August, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice has “seized $1.4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that criminals had stolen and charged over 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country.”