Elizabeth Whitman (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A Lakeview woman charged with using a “check kiting” scheme to steal slightly more than $84,000 from a local bank appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
It was announced in court that 55-year-old Elizabeth Marie Whitman, who lists an address along Bay Ridge Road in Lakeview has put her house up for sale to raise the money to pay victim restitution.
Her case was continued until Sept. 9 to allow time for the sale to be completed and for victim restitution to be paid.
Whitman has requested that her case be continued 10 different times. Her lawyer, Mark Cooper, filed a motion to withdraw from the case on June 12 saying there’s no agreement had been reached between attorney and client as to trial strategy.
The state did not object to Cooper’s request to withdraw but did strongly object to approving further continuances in Whiteman’s case.
Prosecutor David Ethredge filed a response to Cooper’s motion to withdraw in which he said the multiple continuances granted to date had been approved on “assertions by the defendant that she was obtaining funds so she could pay victim restitution.”
Ethredge wrote, “despite the numerous promises” made by Whitman, no payments had been made.
The state alleges that Whitman’s actions were being taken “to avoid trial and judgment in this case” and asks that no changes be made to the start date for a jury trial now set for the week of July 8.
The state did not protest one final continuance in the case after the details of the repayment plan were announced including that Whitman’s house has been listed.
Check kiting basically involves manipulating the time it takes for checks to clear and money to be actually withdrawn from an account.
The proceeds in reality represent a form of unauthorized short-term credit rather than an actual order to pay.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the scheme was reported to law enforcement by the bank in late June 2021. Investigators uncovered evidence that Whitman had set up accounts for two companies — Lakeview Hospitality Group and Lakeview Holding.
Large checks began going back and forth between accounts. When a check was credited to an account allegedly controlled by Whitman, she “would immediately write checks on the amount credited.”
The end result, according to investigators, was that the Lakeview Holding Company account was listed as overdrawn by slightly more than $84,000 when the scheme was detected. The negative balance has remained the same since June 2021.
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