Jackson Jambalaya

A federal grand jury indicted Rebecca Ivison of Jackson for a plethora of charges including money laundering, theft of government funds, and skimming from government rural housing loans.  The indictment took place after Ivison backed out of a plea bargain deal.  

The Justice Department filed a Bill of Information for Ivison on June 27.  Bills of Information are used when the defendant waives indictment and agrees to plead guilty. The Information charged the defendant with one count if illegal structuring.  The maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and/or $250,000 fine.  However, Ivison had other ideas. 

Ivison pleaded not guilty at her hearing before U.S. Magistrate LaKeysha Greer on August 22 and posted a $10,000 bond.  As one can imagine, the feds were not too pleased with the defendant reneging on her plea deal.  Prosecutors promptly went to the grand jury and obtained an indictment on September 23. 

The indictment charges Ivison with eight counts: structuring, false documents, equity skimming, theft of government money, money laundering (2), property mortgaged to federal credit agencies, and false documents.  

Rural Housing Services is a credit agency within USDA-Rural Development.  RHS provides financing for multi-family rental housing in rural areas.  Such housing is oriented towards low-income, disabled, and the elderly.  RD subsidizes the loans by providing rental assistance on behalf of the tenants to the borrower/owner (Ivison in this case.).  Rents are limited to a percentage of the tenant's income.  The program allows borrowers to charge rents affordable to low-income tenants due to loan terms superior to what borrowers can obtain from commercial banking. 

The borrower must manage the property and comply with all federal regulations.  RHS and RS prohibit secret "kinfolk deals."  The borrower and management can not buy goods or services from a party that has a relationship with the borrower unless it is diclosed and approved.

Rebecca Case Ivison operates several management companies: Complex Management, Inc., Delta Property Management, Inc., and Southern Management Group, LLC. that were owned by her late husband,  Herbert Ivison. He died in 2014 at the age of 70. 

There was a nasty fight in Scott County Chancery Court over the will between Rebeccas Ivison and her stepsons.  The Chancellor awarded control of all of the businesses owned by Herbert Ivision's estate to the widow.  

Herbert Ivison created Wicker Garden Designs, LLC in 2013 but dissolved it a year later.  Rebecca Ivison revived the company in 2017. (Pay attention because this story is about to get complicated.) 

Ivison (Rebecca) deposited $19,400 into the Wicker account in 2017.  Nearly all of it came from companies she managed.  She deposited another $79,975 later that year.   

An unindicted co-conspirator deposited $11,666 into an account he shared with Ivison on December 18, 2017.  $11,400 of the funds were fees he received to pressure wash Ivison properties financed by Rural Housing.  The unindicted co-conspirator was her son.  

The indictment charges Ivison did not disclose the relationship nor get approval for such a transaction as required.  

Ivison wired $11,000  from her joint checking account held with her son to her personal checking account on December 19.  However, she split the transfer into two transactions of $9,900 and $1,100.  Federal law requires the bank to report all deposits over $10,000.  It is illegal to break up the deposit into deposits under $10,000 to avoid the reporting requirement.    

The indictment alleges all but $400 of the $11,000 her companies paid to her son went into her pocket.  The Justice Department said the fraud continued as Ivison paid her son $33,600 in December 2017 to pressure wash more properties.  

Junior purchased a 2016 Land Rover on December 26, 2017 for $94,851. The son paid $20,000 to the dealership while her mother paid $74,851 with a check from Wicker.  The Ivison company received $79,975 from USDA in December 2017.   USDA paid $556,604 to Wicker Garden Designs from 2017 to 2019.  

The first count of the indictment charges Rebecca Ivison with illegal structuring her $11,000 2017 transfer to avoid reporting requirements. The second count alleges she filed a false document with USDA that did not include her son in a list of all "identities of interest"* 

Ivison is charged with equity skimming.  Wicker Gardens obtained RHS financing for Pachuta Apartments in Hickory.  The indictment alleges she used the funds for something besides the expenses of managing the property. Such transactions must be authorized.  The alleged transfer of funds from her joint account with her son to her personal account and the illegal structuring of deposits form the basis of the counts for money laundering. 

The purchase of the Land Rover was facilitated by the "theft of government money, charges the indictment. 

The Justice Department seeks the forfeiture of all assets obtained through the alleged offenses. Ivison faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.   

Attorneys Michael Hurst, Candace Gregory, and James Shelson represent the defendant.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge David Bramlett, III and Magistrate Greer.  

* How government terms those who have a relationship with the borrower: family, friends, business partners, etc.