A 44-year-old man from Kansas City, Missouri, Maximillian D. Howell, has been sentenced to federal prison for tricking a local bank into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was involved in real estate and promised to build homes and properties to improve the city. But instead of using the money the right way, he created fake documents and used the funds improperly.
Howell had been working on building homes since 2015, using several of his companies to take on real estate projects in Kansas City. Many of these were supposed to help the community and were funded by government grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These grants were given to the city under programs like HOME and CDBG.
To get money for the projects, Howell arranged for lines of credit from a Missouri state-chartered banking association based in Kansas City. A line of credit means a person can borrow money up to a certain limit, as long as they show how they’re using it.
As construction moved forward, the bank gave Howell money in smaller parts, known as construction draws. Each time he wanted to receive money, he had to submit paperwork showing how much work had been done and how much it cost. But the paperwork was full of lies.
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How the Fraud Worked
Howell’s scheme involved five major real estate sites: Second and Delaware, 1220 Beacon Hill Lane, 2101 Garfield Avenue, 2645 Madison Avenue, and 2709 Holmes Street. He signed loan agreements for each of these projects, saying the money would go toward construction. But instead of doing things the right way, he submitted false requests for money.
He or someone working with him made up fake bills and claimed that certain construction work had already been done—even though it hadn’t. He sent these false documents to the bank, and the bank, trusting the information, paid him large sums of money.
The bank gave Howell a total of $652,784.34 based on these fake reports. That’s money that should have gone toward real construction work—but instead, it was taken through lies and false promises. This kind of crime is called bank fraud, and it’s taken very seriously in federal court.
Howell also created fake records to make it look like the money had been spent on building work, when in fact it had not. These false documents helped convince the bank to release more money. The fraud hurt not just the bank, but also delayed community housing efforts that depended on those funds.
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Sentencing and Legal Action
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, Howell was caught and taken to court. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudolph R. Rhodes IV, who laid out the evidence that proved Howell lied to the bank and misused the money.
U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes sentenced Howell to 21 months in federal prison without parole. That means he must serve nearly two full years behind bars.
In addition to prison time, Howell was ordered to repay $231,841.84 to the bank. The court also ordered a money judgment forfeiture of $88,123.08, which means Howell must give up that amount as funds connected to his crimes.
Howell has been ordered to turn himself in on May 27, 2025, to begin serving his sentence.
Thanks to a thorough investigation and prosecution, the scheme was brought to light and stopped. Howell’s sentencing serves as a reminder that lying to financial institutions and misusing public funds can carry serious consequences.
