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Former B.G. man gets 4 years, must pay $4.9M

He inflated billings for property repairs

By Tom Vogt, Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter
Published: March 30, 2010, 12:00am

A former Battle Ground resident was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and $4.9 million in restitution for mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Donald Chill, 41, of Marco Island, Fla., also was sentenced to five years of supervised release in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Chill had pleaded guilty to the charges on Oct. 23, 2009.

Chill’s former business, Charles Prescott Restoration, rehabilitated property damaged by fire, flood, wind and vandalism. The Longview company made repairs paid for by insurance companies.

In his plea agreement, Chill admitted to submitting inflated billings for the work, and then selling his company without disclosing the fraud.

According to a news release from the Internal Revenue Service, Chill’s company worked primarily for Mutual of Enumclaw, based in Enumclaw. Chill’s company would make emergency repairs and then submit a proposal for comprehensive repairs.

Mutual of Enumclaw

As early as 2004, Chill began inflating the estimates and invoices mailed to Mutual of Enumclaw, according to federal investigators. In just 10 jobs scrutinized over the last five years, Chill overbilled by an estimated $3.2 million.

In one instance detailed in charging papers, Chill submitted a bill for $84,000 in electrical work when the identified electrical contractor had actually done none of the billed work at all. The electrical contractor’s bill had been entirely fabricated by Chill and submitted to the insurance company.

In May 2007, Chill sold the business, certifying that its books and records were true and correct.

As part of the plea agreement, Chill will pay Mutual of Enumclaw $3,227,911 in restitution. He will pay an additional $1,708,062 in restitution to Wachovia Bank and the Small Business Administration, which made the loans for the purchaser of the company.

Assistant United States Attorney Kurt Hermanns wrote to the court that Chill “was not satisfied to merely steal some $3.2 million in insurance payments, he also decided to sell the business at a falsely pumped-up price for the purpose of another round of theft.”

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Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter