{Abingdon, Virginia}...In an indictment announced Monday in Abingdon, five West Virginia coal operators and employees have been charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and fraudulent currency transactions in an alleged $10 million check cashing scheme that involved kickbacks and fraudulent currency transactions. Each could face up to 50 years in prison and fines totaling $1.5 million if convicted on all counts. The indictment alleges 75 year old J.D. "Dot" McReynolds of Tazewell, Virginia, the owner of mining supply companies and a trucking company with operations in both states, and his associates provided cash and fraudulent invoices to the coal operations in exchange for a 10 percent fee, and the coal operators would use the cash obtained in the scheme to pay their workers to avoid paying taxes or to cloak a worker's employment. McReynolds has already pleaded guilty to felony charges. The U.S. attorney's office and Internal Revenue System investigators say the indictments are in addition to pleas already entered by 16 defendants from Virginia and West Virginia in a complex conspiracy from 2007 through February 2011. Each of the 16 defendants face up to five years in prison and fines of $250,000.
