Manager of Macon check cashing company helped man fraudulently obtain $3M in loans
The manager of a Macon check-cashing company, who allowed another man to fraudulently cash out over $3 million in loans, admitted to his role in the bank fraud conspiracy, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
James Meyers, 57, who managed Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing in Macon, pleaded guilty to one count of causing the filing of false currency transaction reports on Wednesday. His case was tied to a larger bank fraud conspiracy where Ronnie Atkinson, 57, cashed out $3 million in loans from Morris Bank using fake bills of sale and other people’s identities.
The market president for the Morris Bank in Gray, Alan Childs, also was charged in the conspiracy. Faith Mote, Atkinson’s public defender, said the scheme wouldn’t have been possible without him, according to his sentencing hearing Feb. 5.
How the scheme was pulled off
Atkinson owned a timber-harvesting company called Ronnie Atkinson, LLC. He took out loans between 2018 and 2022 to buy equipment.
Morris Bank’s policy, in the event a loan applicant reached the $500,000 loan limit, required the bank’s senior credit officer to approve the loan. The credit officer would have to evaluate the customer’s financial information, the loan’s purpose, collateral and ability to repay.
When Atkinson reached the limit, the loans he cashed out had not been paid off. It suffered delinquency issues as a result, according to court records.
Despite that, when Childs notified Atkinson that he had reached the loan limit, the former market president suggested a family member could get a loan for him, according to Atkinson’s court testimony during Childs’ sentencing on Sept. 15, 2025.
Atkinson then continued to apply for loans using either his or a straw borrower’s information until August 2022. By that point, he had taken out over $3 million in loans.
In some of the loans, he would use fraudulent bills of sale or inflated prices for the equipment he sought. Since Morris Bank issued loans in checks addresses directly to the seller, Atkinson instructed the sellers to provide him with the checks so he could cash them out at Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing in Macon.
Atkinson was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Childs was sentenced to one year and a day. Both were ordered to pay back the $3 million in restitution.
How Meyers facilitated the transactions
Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing was required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act regulations and reporting requirements to prevent money laundering. For transactions over $10,000, he was required to file currency transaction reports.
When Atkinson obtained the loan or a cashier’s check — either using the name of a straw borrower or the listed seller — he would bring the checks to Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing. The loans were “always over $10,000,” according to federal prosecutors.
“The (currency transaction report) should have listed the person who presented the check and left with the cash as Atkinson,” federal prosecutors argued. “Instead, the (currency transaction reports) listed the payees of the check, although they were not present and did not collect the cash.”
Either Meyers would cash out Atkinson’s checks or direct an employee to cash them. He also would file the currency transaction reports with the listed payee’s name, even though Atkinson was the person who cashed the checks.
Meyers fraudulently filed currency transaction reports for five checks in the amounts of:
- $166,788
- $117,409
- $93,338
- $126,743
- $280,013
One check was from 2020. The rest were filed between January and June in 2022.
Meyers faces up to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. No sentencing date has been scheduled as of publication.
“This investigation shows we will hold all participants in financial crimes accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Will Keyes. “Such schemes harm our community and will not be tolerated.”
