Macon man sentenced to seven years in prison for fraudulent loan scheme
Prosecutors say the scheme led to Morris Bank losing between $1.5 and $3.5 million.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Macon man was sentenced to seven years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to bank fraud charges.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, 57-year-old Ronnie Atkinson was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty in May 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The sentencing follows the 12-month sentence handed down to 60-year-old Alan Childs of Gray in September 2025. In addition to that sentence, Childs was ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution after pleading guilty in April 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Prosecutors say court documents and statements show Childs served as the market president for Morris Bank in Gray from March 2018 to August 2022 and had lending authority up to $500,000 per customer relationship. He needed approval from the senior credit officer to lend more.
According to the release, Atkinson, who owned a timber-harvesting business, obtained his first loan from Morris Bank to purchase equipment in March 2018. Childs handled that loan and all subsequent loans. By June 2019, Atkinson reached the maximum $500,000 threshold.
Beginning in August 2019 and continuing through May 2022, Atkinson began having relatives and friends appear as borrowers for loans intended for his benefit, the release said. Prosecutors say Childs knew the loans were for Atkinson.
In loans involving the purchase of goods, prosecutors say Atkinson included several fraudulent bills of sale and that he also instructed some of the “so-called” reported sellers of the goods to “instead cash the loan checks and give the money to him or one of his relatives.”
Atkinson also brought several Morris Bank loan and cashier’s checks to a local check-cashing business and collected cash, the release said.
As a result, Morris Bank issued 57 loans “to and for the benefit of” Atkinson, with a total loss of between $1.5 and $3.5 million.
