Hendersonville Business Owner Sentenced for Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud and Tax Charges

NASHVILLE - Scotty Thomas Lumley, 56, of Hendersonville, Tennessee was sentenced to serve 47 months in federal prison and to pay $1,198,833.62 in restitution earlier today, announced Henry C. Leventis, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Lumley previously pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges in 2015. The charges on which Lumley was sentenced today are based on additional federal crimes that he committed between 2015 and 2021. For example, beginning shortly after he was sentenced in 2015, Lumley kept taxes he withheld from his employees' paychecks, rather than paying those funds over to the IRS.

Court documents also show that in 2017, in an effort to avoid a tax debt, Lumley told the IRS that the only vehicle he owned was a GMC 3500 with a negative value. In truth, however, he also owned a 2012 Ferrari 458 Spider which he sold the following year for $187,000.

In 2017 and 2018, Lumley also obtained a series of loans in connection with commercial real estate-related businesses he owned. To obtain those loans, he provided lenders with documents which falsely claimed that his personal net worth was more than $30 million, including cash-on-hand in the amount of approximately $630,000. Lumley also did not disclose that he had an outstanding tax liability of more than $119,000. In total, he tricked lenders into providing more than $3.5 million in loans. Lumley later provided one bank with additional false personal financial statements purporting to show that his net worth had risen to more than $42 million.

In November 2020, after becoming aware of a federal criminal investigation into the above conduct, Lumley flew to Morocco and did not return until he was extradited in February 2023.

While in Morocco, Lumley used a fabricated purchase order to defraud a Utah company of more than $500,000. In December 2021, a grand jury in the District of Utah charged him with wire fraud for this conduct, and that indictment was transferred to the Middle District of Tennessee for plea and sentencing.

"Today's sentence ensures that this serial fraudster will finally be held accountable for his numerous crimes and kept far away from other potential victims," said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. "It is also a testament to the outstanding work and tenacity of the investigators and prosecutors who handled this case. I am particularly grateful for the assistance received by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs to secure the defendant's extradition from Morocco."

"Failure to remit employment taxes withheld from employee wages is a serious criminal offense. Today's sentencing sends a message to those who scheme to conceal and reduce federal income and payroll tax liability," said Donald "Trey" Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Charlotte Field Office. "IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to pursue anyone who collects these taxes and uses the funds for their own personal gain."

The Tennessee case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor J. Phillips is prosecuting the case for the Middle District of Tennessee. The Utah case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Williams and Tyler Murray prosecuted the case for the District of Utah before it was transferred to the Middle District of Tennessee. The extradition was handled by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs with the cooperation of the Moroccan government and assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Morocco.

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