Manager at Macon cash checking company sentenced in $3M bank fraud scheme
The case involving a man who took $3 million from a Gray bank ended Thursday with the final sentencing hearing, according to federal prosecutors.
James Meyers, 57, was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in prison following his guilty plea on Feb. 18, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Georgia. He pleaded guilty to one count of causing the filing of false currency transaction reports.
His case was connected to a larger bank fraud conspiracy investigation where Ronnie Atkinson, 57, cashed out $3 million in loans from Morris Bank in Gray using fake bills of sale and other people’s identities, according to federal prosecutors. The bank manager, Alan Childs, also was involved in the scheme.
Atkinson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft on May 12, 2025. He’s serving seven years in prison. Childs pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud on April 16, 2025. Like Meyers, he’s serving one year and one day in prison.
Atkinson was ordered to pay more than $3.3 million in restitution, and Childs was ordered to pay more than $3 million, the news release said.
“This case makes clear that we will identify and hold accountable every individual involved in a fraud scheme,” said U.S. Attorney William R. Keyes. “We remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to stop financial crimes and protect the public’s trust.”
How the scheme worked
Atkinson owned a timber-harvesting company called Ronnie Atkinson, LLC. In order to buy equipment for his job, he took out loans between 2018 and 2022 with Morris Bank, the news release said.
By June 2019, Atkinson had reached the $500,000 loan limit. Morris Bank’s policy required the bank’s senior credit officer to approve any additional loans. The credit officer would have to evaluate the customer’s financial information, the loan’s purpose, collateral and ability to repay.
Atkinson did not pay back the loans he cashed out, resulting in delinquency issues. It “displayed a well-defined weakness that could jeopardize collection,” federal prosecutors said.
Despite that, Childs, the bank manager, suggested a family member could get a loan for Atkinson, according to Atkinson’s court testimony during Childs’ sentencing on Sept. 15, 2025.
Atkinson had family and friends take out loans as straw borrowers from August 2019 through May 2022. Childs knew it was for Atkinson’s benefit, according to prosecutors.
“In loans involving the purchase of goods, Atkinson included many fraudulent bills of sale,” the news release said. “In addition, Atkinson instructed some of the so-called reported sellers of the goods to just cash the loan checks instead and give the money to him or one of his relatives.”
By that point, he had taken out more than $3 million in loans.
Morris Bank gave out its loans in the form of checks. When Atkinson received the check, he went to Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing in Macon, managed by Meyers, to receive the money in cash.
Mr. Kevin’s Check Cashing was required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act regulations and reporting requirements to prevent money laundering, the news release said. For transactions totaling more than $10,000, Meyers was required to file currency transaction reports. It was supposed to list the person who presented the check and left with the cash.
However, the currency transaction reports were listed with the payees of the check, even though they were not present and did not collect the cash, the news release said.
Meyers would cash out Atkinson’s checks or direct an employee to cash them, according to federal prosecutors.
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, according to court records.
