A Lakeview woman accused of orchestrating a check kiting scheme that cost a local bank more than $84,000 has entered a guilty plea in Baxter County Circuit Court. Elizabeth Marie Whitman, 59, was sentenced to 20 years of supervised probation and ordered to reimburse the stolen funds during that probationary period, according to court records.
Whitman's legal case has been pending for nearly five years, marked by 21 continuances. Some delays stemmed from Whitman’s claims that she needed additional time to raise funds and pay back the stolen money in full. However, no restitution payments were made prior to her plea. Although she had previously indicated plans to sell her home or secure a loan to cover the restitution, records show no such transactions occurred.
The scheme was first reported in June 2021 by the bank, leading to an investigation that uncovered Whitman’s actions. According to a probable cause affidavit, Whitman created accounts under the names Lakeview Hospitality Group and Lakeview Holding and began transferring large checks between them. When funds were credited to one account, Whitman would immediately write checks against those credits. Ultimately, the account for Lakeview Holding was overdrawn by more than $84,000 when the scheme was discovered and halted. The negative balance has remained unchanged since the scheme's detection.
Prosecutor David Ethredge noted repeated delays in the case, asserting that they were granted based on Whitman’s assurances that repayment was imminent. In a court filing responding to Whitman’s former attorney’s motion to withdraw, Ethredge expressed frustration with the lack of progress in restitution, stating that Whitman had made “numerous promises” to pay the stolen funds but failed to do so.
In June 2024, her attorney at the time, Mark Cooper, requested to withdraw from the case, citing a lack of agreement on trial strategy between him and Whitman. While the state did not oppose Cooper’s withdrawal, it objected to any additional continuances.
Check kiting involves exploiting the time it takes for financial institutions to process checks, effectively allowing unauthorized short-term credit. Whitman’s probation will be supervised by the Mountain Home probation and parole office.