Alleged 'mastermind' of bank-fraud case is sentenced to 14 months in prison

A central Iowa businessman alleged to be the “mastermind” of a million-dollar scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration has been ordered to serve 14 months in prison.

Federal prosecutors had asked the judge in the case to sentence Michael Barry Slater, the founder and president of Vital Financial Services in Clive, to 57 months in prison and to impose a “significant fine” for his conviction on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose last week sentenced Slater to 14 months in prison, with a three-year term of supervised release to follow. Rose also ordered Slater to pay restitution in the amount of $4,528,191. No fine was imposed.

Slater was part of a group of financial executives criminally charged with shifting millions in potential losses from the now-shuttered Valley Bank in Moline, Illinois, to the SBA.

Read more: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2022/04/26/alleged-mastermind-of-bank-fraud-case-is-sentenced-to-14-months-in-prison/