CEO of Ga. daycare sentenced to prison, ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution for check fraud

BIBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Chief Executive Officer of a daycare based in Georgia was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution last week for conducting a check kiting and tax scheme.

United States Attorney Peter D. Leary said Ilene Farley, 62, of Stone Mountain, was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

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She was also ordered to pay $514,240.89 in restitution to Bank of America, and $844,091.77 to the IRS on Apr. 12 after having pleaded guilty to bank fraud and failure to pay over trust fn taxes on Nov. 16.

Court documents revealed that Farley was the CEO of Tender Years Learning Corporation, an organization that operated several daycare centers across Georgia. Farley handled financial affairs, which included several bank accounts, having with Bank of America and Citizens Trust Bank.

Leary said when a customer presents a check for deposit into an account, it can take anywhere from 24 hours to seven days for the check to clear. The term used to define that period is the “float.”

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The term “check kiting” refers to a form of check fraud that involves taking advantage of the float to use the non-existent funds in another bank account.

Leary added that the purpose of check kiting is to falsely inflate the balance of a checking account in order to allow written checks that would otherwise bounce to clear.

Channel 2 Action News previously reported that from April 2018 until July 2019, Leary said Farley check kited with the TYLC bank accounts with Bank of America and Citizens Trust Bank and sent over $75,000,000 to banks in unfunded amounts. The equivalent of the amount obtained from banks without secured loans.

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During that time, Leary said 19 checks bounced in the amount of $2,202,162.41, resulting in Bank of America losing $514,240.89.

“These types of criminal schemes—whether the harm is directed to individuals or businesses—will not be ignored by this office or our law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “We will unravel the fraud and hold wrongdoers accountable for their crimes.”

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