(USAO, MO) PRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the owner of apartment complexes in Pulaski County, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court to an $18.2 million fraud scheme.

James J. Laughlin, 74, of Waynesville, Mo., waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Thursday, May 26, 2016, to a federal information that charges him with making false statements and reports on a loan application.

Laughlin, one of the operators of 4-J Apartments, admitted that he provided false information to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in order to obtain an $18,219,400  loan in 2012 for the operation and maintenance of 232 apartments and complexes in Pulaski County.

Laughlin involved Richard Newman DeLong, 50, of Newburg, Mo., an employee of Brookshire Concrete, in the fraud scheme. Delong, who was fired by the company for his role in the scheme, worked with Laughlin to make it appear that Brookshire Concrete was renting apartments from 4-J. This would allow 4-J to artificially inflate its occupancy levels in order to qualify for the FHA loan.

Delong, while employed by Brookshire Concrete, issued numerous checks that were made payable to 4J Apartments. These checks contained the forged signature of the company’s owner...