"Quality Grain" Woman gets 15 years

...sentenced for bank fraud, money laundering
..Ghana to get back $20 million

ATLANTA, USA - A suburban Atlanta woman was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Thursday following her conviction on charges of bank fraud, money laundering and false statements.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. also ordered Juliet R. Cotton, 38, of Duluth to pay restitution of $22,225,016, with about $20 million going to the government of Ghana and about $2 million to South Trust Bank.

A jury deliberated for three hours after the 10-day trial and found Cotton guilty of 35 charges, including one of defrauding the bank in loans purportedly obtained to build a rice plantation in the Republic of Ghana.

Cotton used the money for things such as a Bentley automobile and a Rolls Royce automobile, a Jaguar, two Mercedes Benz, a $540,000 down payment on a $1.1 million home, $22,000 for a 50-piece orchestra at her wedding and a $30,000 Caribbean honeymoon, federal prosecutors said.