A Northwest Arkansas man, Richard Harold Stone, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for operating an illegal money transmitting business. The sentence was handed down on February 20 by Judge Timothy L. Brooks at the United States District Court in Fayetteville. In addition to the prison term, Stone will face three years of supervised release and must pay restitution amounting to $725,558.
Stone, aged 77, pleaded guilty after waiving indictment by a grand jury. He was charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business in Arkansas. Stone held positions as President or Chief Officer in several businesses registered with the Arkansas Secretary of State: Partex Oman Corp., Renewable Energy Campus Arkansas, Inc., Stonetek Global Corp., and Tires 2 Energy, LLC. He was also associated with Environmental Energy & Finance Corp., a Delaware corporation. These companies were purportedly focused on developing technology to convert waste materials into fuel but were not registered as money transmitting businesses as required by state law.
From November 2020 to March 2021, Stone received over $600,000 through various bank accounts linked to these entities from Paycheck Protection Program loans, Economic Impact Disaster Loans, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications made on behalf of unsuspecting victims. The funds were then transferred via wire to locations including Berne, Switzerland; London; New York City; Chennai; and Mumbai.
Following his sentencing hearing on Thursday, Stone was placed under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The case announcement came from U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas. The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Bridges is leading the prosecution efforts in this case.