Tennessee man convicted of bank fraud, conspiracy

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Court, law, scales of justice, Gavel, crime, judge, judgement, legal,

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee man has been convicted in federal court of defrauding three banks in Tennessee and Alabama.

Charles Ray Smith, 71, of Crump, deposited and directed others to deposit more than $116 million in fraudulent bank checks into his companies' bank account, defrauding Central Bank in Savannah, Tennessee, from 2009 to 2012, the U.S. attorney's office said in a news release.

Prosecutors say Smith also defrauded Wayne County Bank in Waynesboro, Tennessee, and First Metro Bank in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, by falsifying collateral to obtain loans, stealing more than $9.9 million from the banks.

Smith owned and operated several aggregate materials businesses in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.

Smith was convicted of all counts, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and seven counts of bank fraud.

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