Local Farmer Cheated Bank Out Of Millions

Farming is a competitive industry and a farmer in Bureau County has admitted to lying, cheating and stealing to get a leg up.

The Moline Dispatch says David Duckworth of Buda pled guilty Wednesday in federal court to money laundering and fraud.  In 2008, he got a 1.1 million dollar loan from the Bank of Toulon using stored grain and future grain from 2009 as collateral.  Unknown to the bank, Duckworth sold his grains using other names to avoid bank liens.

In 2010, Duckworth got another loan for 950 thousand dollars.  While his grain was supposed to be collateral, he then sold his grain again using different names.  He also lied about money in a hidden account during his bankruptcy.

Duckworth will be sentenced in December.