Cincinnati Enquirer

Builder awaits fraud sentence
Calkins case reminds many of Erpenbeck
A Fairfield home builder is awaiting sentencing for bank fraud in a case reminiscent of the Erpenbeck scandal that rocked the region. Federal prosecutors say Chester Calkins and his wife, Antonette, did not pay off construction loans on 47 condominiums purchased with cash… It is unclear what sent Chester Calkins, who was president of the Greater Cincinnati Home Builders Association in 2000, into financial collapse. The company is in bankruptcy, and Calkins has been convicted of writing bad checks in Ohio.

Builder awaits fraud sentence 
Calkins case reminds many of Erpenbeck
By Jim Hannah
Enquirer staff writer
COVINGTON - A Fairfield home builder is awaiting sentencing for bank fraud in a case reminiscent of the Erpenbeck scandal that rocked the region.

Federal prosecutors say Chester Calkins and his wife, Antonette, did not pay off construction loans on 47 condominiums purchased with cash - a scheme Bill Erpenbeck used to prop up his family's home-building business.

The owners of the Fairfield-based Homes by Calkins will be sentenced in April, and their crimes could bring them 30 years in prison and a million-dollar fine apiece.

Chester Calkins pleaded guilty Jan. 14 to one count of bank fraud; his wife, to one count of aiding and abetting bank fraud, for a condo sale to Northern Kentucky residents Maria and Vincent Versluis.

"We thought we were dealing with a big Ohio builder," said Maria Versluis. "We had no idea this was a husband-and-wife operation."

The couple did not lose their property, which they'd purchased as an investment.

Campbell County Clerk Jack Snodgrass said there are no liens on the couple's condo despite the fact that federal prosecutors say the builders didn't pay off the $75,565 construction loan to Huntington Bank.

Su Lok, spokesman for Columbus-based Huntington Bank, would not comment on the case.

The home builder also did not pay off loans totaling $5 million to Provident Bank, Bank of Kentucky, U.S. Bank and Bank One.

The 47 condos were purchased from November 1999 through December 2002 in the Forest Ridge subdivision of Cold Spring and the Village Park community of Florence. Margie Schack, president of the Forest Ridge homeowners association, said many of the community residents were retirees who were attracted to the units' single-floor plans and affordable prices.

"I heard some were running title checks on their condo, but I'm not aware of anyone who found a lien," she said.

Bob Rentz, whose company manages Forest Ridge for the homeowners association, also didn't know of any buyers who had lost their home or were in jeopardy of it because of the scam. He did, however, say the association had to spend more than $70,000 to complete a building that the developer had abandoned.

The builders' lawyers, James Perry and Shannon Smith, both of Cincinnati, declined to comment. The phone at the home builder's West Chester home has been disconnected.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning will sentence the Calkinses on April 29.

It is unclear what sent Chester Calkins, who was president of the Greater Cincinnati Home Builders Association in 2000, into financial collapse. The company is in bankruptcy, and Calkins has been convicted of writing bad checks in Ohio.

Prosecutors say the couple were required to pay off a portion of a construction loan associated with the condos at the time of the closing, a practice consistent with industry standards. Typically, a construction loan is 75 percent to 90 percent of the retail sale price.

Court records say Chester Calkins was president and sole stockholder in the company and his wife served as secretary and closing agent for the condo sales.

"Calkins' case is so much like Erpenbeck it is not funny," said lawyer Jeffery Blankenship of Florence. "I guess you can call it Erpenbeck-esque."

Blankenship represented about 40 couples who, beginning in 2001, purchased Erpenbeck-built condos with cash, only to discover that the builder hadn't paid off the construction loans.

In the Erpenbeck case, however, the homeowners had to go to court to keep the banks from foreclosing.

The bankers who aided in the Erpenbeck scam, John Finnan and Marc Menne, were sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 63 months and 54 months, respectively, in prison. Former Erpenbeck Co. president Bill Erpenbeck is serving a 30-year federal sentence for orchestrating the bank fraud.

"You hear stories of these kinds of scams, but you don't think it is going to happen to you," said Maria Versluis. "I guess we are lucky. We will be more careful next time."

E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thursday, January 27, 2005