Apartment Contractor Sentenced for Bank Fraud

An Illinois man who pleaded guilty in May to bank fraud related to his work on an apartment complex near SIU Carbondale has been sentenced.

The U.S. Attorney's office for the southern district of Illinois says 56-year-old Christopher E. Creek of Champaign was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison.

In May, Creek admitted that while developing an apartment complex known as the Pointe at SIU, he submitted fraudulent requests for draws of construction loan funds to banks that financed the project using fake company names, then used those funds for his own purposes, including payments to subcontractors and material suppliers he owed from prior jobs.

Creek was also ordered to pay $376,890.84 in restitution and a $2,000 fine. He must also serve three years' supervised release after his time in prison.

Creek’s sentencing hearing was held at the federal courthouse in Benton, Illinois.