(Lander, WY) – Lander resident Paul McCown is facing seven federal wire fraud charges related to defrauding both the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) and the asset management company Ria R Squared.
McCown, the former Wyoming Catholic College chief financial officer, had an initial lawsuit filed against him by R Squared in June 2021 – they claim he swindled them out of a $15 million loan.
Three of the wire fraud charges, which were filed on March 10th, 2022, are related to the lawsuit filed by R Squared in which McCown allegedly impersonated a bank official and falsified bank documents.
The remaining charges state McCown Enterprises, LLC received over $800,000 from the WBC in CARES funds based on false applications.
In total, McCown submitted four online applications in 2020 to the WBC for CARES funds resulting in four wire fraud charges. He has agreed to pay back $841,863, according to court documents.
A wire fraud charge holds a maximum penalty of up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
His initial hearing for these seven federal charges is slated for March 29th in Casper.
A bench trial is currently scheduled for December 2022 for the lawsuit filed by R Squared.