Two Plead Guilty to Operating Nearly $12 Million Fraudulent Loan Program Harming Dozens of Victims

ROCKFORD - Two men from Kentucky have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges for operating a scheme that caused borrowers, lenders, and investors to turn over nearly $12 million through sham loan programs and investments.

MARK CARROLL and LUKE CURRY admitted in plea agreements that they made materially false and fraudulent representations to victims to cause them to invest in companies Carroll and Curry created, including Catapult Marketing LLC and Catapult Funding LLC. As part of the scheme, Carroll and Curry fraudulently purported to extend lines of credit to victim borrowers in exchange for initial deposits of about 20%, a practice known as an "80/20 line of credit," the plea agreement states. They also fraudulently entered into "private loan agreements" with victim lenders and investors in which Carroll and Curry falsely promised to repay principal and interest at maturity in exchange for the victims' funds, the plea agreement states. Carroll and Curry instead misappropriated the victims' money for purposes other than what they had represented to the victims, the plea agreement states.

The government contends that Carroll and Curry perpetrated their fraud scheme against 60 individuals, resulting in an actual loss of at least $11.8 million.

Carroll, 50, of Lexington, Ky., and Curry, 39, of Bowling Green, Ky., pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges during a hearing on Thursday in federal court in Rockford. They each face a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston set sentencings for Aug. 4, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

The guilty pleas were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa R. Munch and Robert Ladd.