CPA gets probation in RBM Lumber fraud case

A 66-year-old Kalispell man was sentenced to five years probation in federal court last week in a wire fraud case involving RBM Lumber Co.

Jesse Wall pleaded guilty in U.S. district court in Missoula on April 3. U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen also ordered Wall to pay $201,305 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Racicot, Wall, who was a certified public accountant in Kalispell, induced RBM to invest $350,000 with him beginning in 2008. An executive with the Columbia Heights lumber company said Wall offered to invest some of RBM’s money in ways that would produce a higher rate of return than a bank.

The executive reported that Wall invested RBM’s money in a Nevada corporation he had created called Milestone Innovations. Wall, however, used the money from RBM for his own “struggling” business rather than investing it in any interest-bearing investment, Racicot said.

RBM also had expected the money to be readily available, and Wall had no authority to tie up the money for an extended period of time. When RBM asked Wall to return the money in February 2011, he was unable to do so.

Wall allegedly told RBM the money was tied up in a real estate investment, but in reality Wall had already spent it, Racicot said. Wall told RBM he hoped to sell his house in a few months and use the proceeds to pay them back. Wall paid RBM $190,000 in June 2011.

During an interview in December 2011, Wall allegedly told a Secret Service agent he wanted to pay RBM back but “perhaps did say something misleading to them” to induce RBM to invest with him.

In a separate case, Wall reportedly settled out of court with another person in the Flathead Valley after he paid back all the missing money and paid attorney fees as part of the settlement.