Vernon Hills  accountant accused  of fraud

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Travis Indictment

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:07AM

A certified public accountant and tax preparer faces federal charges of engaging in schemes to defraud US Bankcorp and five clients of more than $2 million.

Jeffrey B. Travis of Vernon Hills was charged with five counts of bank fraud and three counts of mail fraud in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Jan. 18, a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Prosecutors said an arraignment on the charges would likely be held this week.

Travis, 50, who does business as Gross & Travis Ltd. and Travis and Associates Inc., with offices in Deerfield, engaged in the schemes from at least May 2002 until January 2009, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The indictment charges he prepared checks payable from his clients to vendors, retirement programs and tax authorities, but instead of delivering them to the intended payees, he deposited at least 668 such checks into accounts he controlled at US Bank — at times altering the checks to increase the amounts paid. Travis then withdrew the money for his own use.

“It was further part of the scheme that, in order to conceal from clients that he had fraudulently negotiated and altered their checks, Travis at times used his position of trust as his clients’ accountant to prevent clients from gaining possession of their checks upon their return from the bank after negotiation,” the indictment alleges.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $2,034,848, representing proceeds of the alleged fraud schemes.

Each count of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and each mail fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with restitution mandatory. If convicted, the court could impose fines of twice the amount lost by any victim.

Travis could not be reached for comment via telephone at his office in Deerfield. His attorney, Steven Messner, declined comment on the charges.