TOPEKA — A Kansas accountant stole $400,000 from his family, transferred it to a fake ranch, then used the funds to pay for construction of his new home.
Quintin Flanagin was a certified public accountant in northwestern Kansas, and his family members were clients at his firm. In January 2022, Flanagin added Middle Finger Ranch to one of his personal banking accounts, according to federal court documents.
That January, he began an 8-month scheme, funneling money through checks and wire transfers into the Middle Finger Ranch, swindling more than $400,000. He wrote six checks, many of which contained false memo lines attributing the stolen money to farm operations, the court documents said.
When Flanagin’s family discovered discrepancies in their accounts, he created fabricated flow charts and blamed others for the fraudulent checks, said federal prosecutor Ryan Kriegshauser in a news release from the Kansas district’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The name of Mr. Flanagin’s fictitious ranch speaks for itself,” Kriegshauser said. “After stabbing his family in the back, Flanagin lied to their faces.”
A grand jury indicted the 45-year-old Colby resident in June 2024 after investigations by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count each of wire fraud, bank fraud, false statements and money laundering. He was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison.
“In his hubris, Flanagin thought he could outsmart federal investigators and forensic accountants,” Kriegshauser said. “He was wrong.”
Stephen Cyrus, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office, said Flanagin’s sentencing reflects the severity of the case and how seriously the FBI takes financial fraud.
“Mr. Flanagin was entrusted with a fiduciary duty to protect the financial interests of the victims in this case,” Cyrus said. “Instead of acting with integrity and in the interest of his clients, the defendant used his position to personally benefit from the scheme.”
This story was originally published by the Kansas Reflector.
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