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Update (11/14): Added restitution and forfeiture figures and co-counsel.
PORTLAND, Ore.—Ronald Eugene Stover, 64, of Tualatin, Oregon, pleaded guilty today to one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property criminally derived from wire fraud and a scheme to defraud investors.
According to court documents, beginning in 2010, Stover began soliciting short-term loan investments to fund various Xtreme Iron capital projects. Stover claimed to have a long track records of success in real estate development, business and banking and relied heavily on investor introductions made by other professional intermediaries to establish his credibility. Xtreme Iron owned a heavily-leveraged fleet of Caterpillar and John Deere heavy equipment in Frisco, Texas and maintained an office in Wilsonville, Oregon.
At Stover’s urging, investors sent funds to Tri-Core Funding Group, an entity wholly owned and controlled by Stover. Stover falsely claimed the company had a sound business model, strong growth opportunities and manageable debt exposure. In addition to Stover’s many false claims about the business’s health and viability, he advanced many falsehoods about the nature of the investment opportunity including, but not limited to: investor funds would be used exclusively for business purposes, Stover himself would provide additional capital sourcing from his own funds and investors would receive short-term repayment of their loan notes plus interest.
As alleged in the count of conviction, Stover emailed a victim in May 2012, soliciting funds to purchase heavy equipment from Caterpillar. In response to the solicitation, Stover executed a 30-day loan note promising repayment plus interest. The victim wired $175,000 to Tri-Core Funding Group the next day. Unbeknownst to the victim, Stover never intended to use the money as promised. Immediately after receiving the funds, Stover used the funds to make over a year’s worth of mortgage payments on his residence in Tualatin, which was on the brink of foreclosure. Stover never repaid his victim.
Stover faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced on February 25, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken. As part of the plea agreement, Stover has agreed to pay more than $3.2 million in restitution and nearly $169,000 to satisfy a forfeiture money judgement.
The IRS and FBI investigated this case. It is being prosecuted by Donna Brecker Maddux and Julia E. Jarrett, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.
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