BOISE -- A Kuna man has admitted to promising to build custom jet boats for his customers, only to cheat them out of millions of dollars in up-front payments.
Christopher Bohnenkamp, 42, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Bohnenkamp - the owner of Treasure Valley Marine, Inc. and Bohnenkamp’s Whitewater Customs, Inc. - made false promises to both would-be buyers and materials vendors.
Even though he knew by May 2014 his busnesses were financially insolvent, Bohnenkamp continued to take boat orders and advance payments from new customers, as well as parts on credit from vendors. Prosecutors say he knew that money and equipment would go towards constructing boats for existing customers, not the people placing new orders for themselves.
By December 2014, Bohnenkamp had acquired 13 new clients, none of whom received the completed jet boat they had paid for. Despite pocketing their money, Bohnenkamp handed over unfinished boat hulls, or nothing at all.
The wire fraud scheme resulted in a loss of between $1.5 million and $3.5 million to those who had trusted Bohnenkamp and his business, according to the plea agreement.
Bohnenkamp also admitted to filing a false bill of sale with KeyBank on behalf of customer "D.B." The inaccurate bill of sale not only inflated the price of the boat D.B. had ordered, but also indicated the customer had made a $20,000 payment, when he had not.
The defendant also didn't mention to the bank that some of the money from the loan would be kicked back to D.B. After KeyBank issued $272,982 in loan money to Bohnenkamp's business, he kicked back a total of $59,283 to the customer.
Bohnenkamp has already been barred from operating a boat-related business in Idaho after a lawsuit from the Idaho Attorney General's Office.
He faces up to 30 federal years in prison for each fraud count at his Aug. 8 sentencing.
