Columbia man pleads guilty to investment fraud scheme

A Columbia, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to an investment fraud scheme, according to an official release from the United States Attorney of the Western District of Missouri.

Billings Chapman, 78, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.

The charge is related to the transfer of $100,000 that was derived from the fraud scheme.

The release says that Chapman owned an interest in CheckmarcUSA, LLC, a company formed to provide bad check collection services to banks. He also owned Federal Financial Services, LLC (FFS), which he used to solicit investors.

“Chapman admitted that he engaged in a scheme from May 26, 2011, to April 30, 2014, to defraud investors by making materially false representations and using investment funds for his own personal benefits,” said the release. “Chapman did not tell investors that he had been barred from engaging in the securities industry in 1970 by the National Association of Securities Dealers, or that he had been issued cease and desist orders in 1991 and in 2004 from the Missouri Commissioner of Securities for engaging in fraudulent or illegal practices in the securities business.”

Chapman is facing up to 20 years in federal prison without parole.