A Poplar Bluff businessman is free on bond after his recent arrest on charges alleging he defrauded Southern Bank over a commercial agricultural loan.
Richard Vaughn Morris, 60, is to appear at 9 a.m. Jan. 16 before Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce for arraignment on two Class E felonies of defrauding secured creditors.
At the time Morris was charged in December, he was awaiting trial on the felony of deceptive business practices and the infraction of failure to have a vehicle inspected prior to a sale.
Morris allegedly took payment for a car, but failed to make the necessary repairs and delivering it.
The new charges against Morris stem from an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Department of Revenue Compliance and Investigation Bureau.
In July, patrol Sgt. Brenda Cone and Special Agent Adam Mathias with the Department of Revenue met with Southern Bank loan officers, Aaron Decker and Ryan Adams.
“They informed us that Richie V. Morris had a commercial agricultural loan with Southern Bank that was acquired on Dec. 4, 2014, in the amount of $17,216.97 for the purchase of a 2013 Kubota utility vehicle (UTV),” Cone wrote in her probable-cause statement.
Decker and Adams, according to Cone, reported the loan was secured with a 2004 Farm Pro tractor provided by Morris’ father as collateral.
“They informed us that Richie Morris was almost a year past due on his loan, and the loan balance was $1,631.01, and with fees, totalled $2,295.27 as of July 11, 2019,” Cone said. “They said they made multiple attempts to contact Richie Morris about making arrangements to satisfy the loan, with no response.”
Cone said she and Mathias were provided with documentation indicating a payment due date of Aug. 4, 2018. Morris’ last payment allegedly was made in July 2018.
“They also said they believed (Morris) had sold the securities for the loan,” Cone said.
On July 11, Cone said, she and Mathias met Morris at his place of business, Morris Motors, about the loan.
After being told of his rights, Cone said, Morris was asked about the loan he had with Southern Bank involving a UTV and a tractor.
“He said he was familiar with the loan and that he and his father were on the loan together,” Cone said. “ … he said the loan was paid, and he started getting pressured.”
Morris, Cone said, reported the loan had been “messed up for two years because he had been making payments on the loan and found out months later that the payments he was making were being credited to his mother’s home-equity loan.
“Morris said he didn’t even know what the payoff on the loan was, and I told him it was $2.295.27 with fees. Morris said there was no way that was correct.”
The original loan, according to the Morris’ statement, was for a Kubota UTV, and he and his father owned a tractor that was put up for collateral on the loan.
When asked where the UTV and tractor were, “he said they were gone … ,” Cone said. “He said he sold the tractor two or three years ago (in 2016 or 2017), and he sold the Kubota in 2018.”
In October, Cone said, a search warrant was obtained for the records related to the commercial agricultural loan Morris obtained from Southern Bank.
Those records, she said, confirmed the information received from Decker and Adams.
The payment schedule, Cone said, showed a payment date of July 25, 2018, in the amount of $826.18, leaving a loan balance of $2,108.44.
Cone said no payments were made between August and December 2018.
A payment of $550 was made on Jan. 18, leaving a balance of $1,631.01, Cone said.
“As of Oct. 31, 2019, the loan balance, including fees, was $2,330.79, according to Aaron Decker at Southern Bank,” Cone said.