GRAND RAPIDS — U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that Trent William Witteveen, 40, of Montague, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Jonker to 41 months in prison for orchestrating a multi-year wire fraud scheme, according to a press release from Totten’s office.
The court additionally ordered Witteveen to pay $844,282 in financial restitution to his victims. Witteveen, formerly of Pentwater, Michigan, operated a timber harvesting business under the names “Titan Timber” and “Titans Timber LLC.”
“Witteveen stole from innocent investors by operating his sham timber business as a Ponzi scheme, solely to line his own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Financial fraud is a serious problem and the schemes are endless. Today’s sentence sends a message that my office will vigorously prosecute fraudsters whose lies and misrepresentations cause devastating financial harm to honest and hard-working individuals.”
According to court documents, between June 2018 and January 2021, Witteveen operated a Ponzi-like scheme involving his timber business that defrauded investors and others. Witteveen routinely represented to investors that he secured timber harvesting rights from landowners and promised the investors a significant return if they provided the investment capital necessary to pay the landowner for such rights. In reality, on most occasions, no current contracts for timber harvesting existed because, unknown to the investors, Witteveen had already harvested timber from the landowner’s property at an earlier time.
On other occasions, to obtain more investment capital from the investors, Witteveen misrepresented the true value of timber on a landowner’s property by purposely inflating the value to an amount higher than what he knew a sawmill would pay for the lumber after harvesting the timber. Witteveen also obtained cashier’s checks or money orders payable to the landowners and showed those checks to the investors to make his contract with the landowner appear genuine. In reality, no such contract existed, and Witteveen simply deposited those funds back into his own bank account.
After Witteveen obtained money from an investor, he used that investor’s money to repay all or some of what he owed to prior investors, or to repay the same investor with his or her money to give the appearance that he was actually paying the promised returns. This allowed Witteveen to perpetuate his scheme by causing investors to believe that they were likely to realize the promised returns and to continue to invest with him. During the period alleged in the indictment, Witteveen obtained over $2,000,000.00 from investors and used most of that money to pay his own personal expenses and fund his lifestyle.
“Today’s sentencing of Trent Witteveen, a former Timber business owner, highlights the serious consequences of committing financial crimes,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “Mr. Witteveen exploited the trust of his investors for personal gain, creating harm to others and the integrity of our financial systems. Members from FBI Michigan remain committed to protecting Michigan residents by investigating and arresting those who engage in fraudulent schemes. I would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Michigan for their partnership in ensuring Mr. Witteveen is held accountable for his criminal acts.”
The FBI’s Grand Rapids Office investigated the case and received assistance during the investigation from the Michigan State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Stella prosecuted the case.
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