Aimee and Donald Rosenbaum, along with their son, Marshal Rosenbaum were recently sentenced in federal court for their roles in crop loan and bankruptcy fraud schemes. Aimee was sentenced to 78 months of imprisonment and faces hefty fines, fees, and restitution. She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Donald was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Marshal, the couple’s son, was sentenced to three months of imprisonment and three months of home confinement. He was also ordered to make $165,592.21 in restitution to the USDA-FSA, jointly and severally with Aimee Rosenbaum. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.
All three family members pleaded guilty, and their guilty pleas, as well as evidence from Aimee’s three-day sentencing hearing, help paint a picture of the situation. Aimee and Donald Rosenbaum historically farmed land in Chickasaw County, Iowa. In 2014, Aimee directed Marshal, her son, to apply for a crop loan with the USDA-FSA for the 2015 crop year on the pretense that Marshal would be taking over the farm. Marshal obtained over $165,000 in loan proceeds and pledged the farm’s 2015 crop to the USDA-FSA. Then, Aimee, using a power of attorney she had obtained from Donald, applied for and obtained over $1.3 million in loans from a local bank on the representation that Aimee and Donald would continue to farm the land that year. This resulted in the 2015 crop being double-pledged without the knowledge of the USDA or the bank.
The family eventually defaulted on both loans and sold the double-pledged crop with little to no repayment. After the bank started foreclosure proceedings on the Rosenbaums’ farm, Aimee and Donald filed five bankruptcy petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Iowa. Aimee and Donald each filed two additional bankruptcy petitions in bad faith and on the eve of scheduled Sheriff’s sales in state court in order to delay the bank’s attempts to obtain repayment for its loans to Aimee and Donald. During one telephonic hearing in bankruptcy court in 2019, Aimee pretended to be Donald. The district court also found that Aimee submitted false evidence and testimony to the district court at her sentencing hearing.
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