Carter accused of stealing from charity

A long-time Corbin businessman, who is currently on probation for fraudulent insurance acts, was indicted by the Whitley County Grand Jury Monday morning on a 27-count theft indictment, which alleges he took more than $27,704.58 that was the property of Habitat for Humanity.
The grand jury charged Robert Allen Carter with 24 counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $300, two counts of theft by deception over $300, and for one count of being a second-degree persistent felony offender.
The theft by deception charges stem from allegations that Carter took a total of $3,000 from Marty and Bridget Jordan from May 6, 2005, through June 1, 2005, upon the promise he would construct a house for them, but failed to do so, according to his indictment.
“In one case, we had a Jordan family over in Knox County that have a young child, who is terminally ill. They were looking for help in getting into a house,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble. “They looked around, went on the Internet, and found Habitat. Carter’s name came up as a representative of Habitat. They went to him.
“Habitat’s houses are donated. You don’t pay anything except these mortgage payments that come up. He told them he could get them a Habitat house if they paid him $2,000, which they did. He came back to them, and said he needed another $1,000 to pay for the Habitat house, plus he needed to find some land to put the house on.
“Mrs. Jordan’s in-laws conveyed an acre of property, but they still have no house. There was a foundation laid, and maybe some blocks laid, but that was all. They are pretty upset about it.”
The theft by deception charges are related to one of the theft by failure to make required disposition of property charges, and involve $4,800 converted to the Knox Land Company on March 18, 2005.
“In one of the counts, First National Bank had given Habitat a couple of lots. They built a house on one lot. There was another lot next do it. They people that had a habitat house built for them purchased the other lot next door to them,” Trimble said. “The money went to Knox County Land Company, which is a corporation Carter was the principal in. They took the money from that, and executed a note for the balance to Knox Land Company.”
The other theft by failure to make required disposition of property charges alleged that from August 2002 through May 2005, Carter was the custodian of funds for the Cumberland River Valley Habitat for Humanity, and that he intentionally converted money meant for Habitat for Humanity for his own use of benefit by writing checks, according to the indictments.
“Habitat for Humanity was very active in 1993 and 1994, and built several houses here in the area,” said Trimble. “When Habitat builds a house for people, they always set up a mortgage payment for them. It is small, but they pay it over years. The money that is generated from the mortgage payments is used to assist in other building programs.
“In this case Carter was the treasurer, and kept receiving this money. He would use the money for personal expenses. He would pay people to wallpaper his office, used it to pay mortgage payments, and various things.”
According to the indictment, Carter wrote a $6,000 check to Carter and Associates for his own benefit on Jan. 31, 2005, and a $3,980 check to American Express among others.
The indictment alleges that various checks were written to Carter and Associates, various credit cards and banks, and to two other individuals.
The charges normally carry a possible prison sentence of one to five years, but because Carter is charged with being a persistent felony offender, the penalties for each of the 26 counts could carry five to 10 year prison sentences.
However, under state law the most time Carter could spend in prison if convicted on all charges, which are class ‘D’ felonies, is 20 years prison.
In late 2001, Carter pleaded guilty to charges of committing fraudulent insurance acts in exchange for a two-year prison sentence that the judge probated for five years.
The 2000 indictment alleged that from 1996 through 1998 Carter submitted fraudulent insurance applications to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield that deprived the company of $10,856.44.
On Nov. 10, 2004, a circuit court jury found Carter not guilty on a charge alleging that he obtained $4,000 from Melissa Rollins on Oct. 28, 2003, for the purpose of investing the sum in an IRA account, but failed to do so, and instead converted the money for the use and benefit of others.