A federal grand jury convicted former bank CFO Aaron Luneke earlier this month in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme he perpetrated against two banks..Luneke, 44, was convicted on March 6 of one count of bank fraud and another count of attempted bank fraud in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The case centered around $7.8 million in loans Luneke tried to receive in 2021 for a car wash construction project he was leading while CFO of Columbus, Neb.-based Bank of the Valley. Luneke, CFO of the bank from 2018-22, secured two loans totaling $4.3 million from his bank for Legacy Express Car Wash by submitting fraudulent and inflated invoices from contractors. Luneke reportedly did not disclose outstanding debt he had to family members in his application for a $3.5 million refinancing loan from a community bank in Minnesota He reportedly used corporate shell entities to hide that additional individuals were profiting from his ownership in the car wash. Luneke’s conviction followed a two-week trial in Omaha. Sentencing is scheduled for June 10. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1 million fine on each count. “Luneke exploited his position of power to conceal a pattern of deception that defrauded his employer,” said Eugene Kowel, special agent in charge of the FBI Omaha Field Office. “Financial crimes erode public trust and confidence in our country’s economy, so we will remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate those using illegal means to enrich themselves for personal gain.”
