CRANBERRY TWP — A man who pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding a Cranberry Township restaurateur now faces federal charges in a $6.5 million wire fraud case in Virginia.

Carl Anthony McNeill, 57, of Pennsylvania, was indicted in November on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in what prosecutors called a more than two-year-long scheme to defraud clients.

McNeill pleaded guilty in October 2018 to a misdemeanor charge of theft by deception for taking $90,000 from a Cranberry restaurateur who sought a loan to open a third location and to buy out a partner from another business agreement by falsely telling the restaurateur he could procure a $900,000 loan if the restaurateur fronted 10% of the cost.

He informed the restaurateur he obtained funding from C&D Financial Group LLC, Creative Capital Partners and C&D Corp. Services, but never provided the funds.

As part of his guilty plea, McNeill paid $90,000 in restitution, along with a $500 fine and court costs.

In Virginia, the federal indictment alleges, McNeill pilfered money from at least two business entities with the same strategy as he did in Cranberry.

He, Ksyntoilious Miller of Virginia and two unnamed co-conspirators obtained nearly $6.5 million from a church and the owner of a construction company, the federal government alleges.

“They offered these victims the prospect of obtaining those loans with an advance payment or payments made to C&D (Corp. Services)/CCP (Creative Capital Partners),” the indictment states. “C&D/CCP was not to provide funding under the proposed arrangements.”

With one Williamsburg, Va., church, McNeill utilized the same method as he did in Cranberry, according to the indictment.

“In December 2016, (the church), acting through a bishop of the church, entered into an agreement under which (the church) deposited a total of $90,000 in escrow with C&D/CCP to receive a credit line in the approximate amount of $900,000,” the indictment states.

While the church wired $90,000 to the two companies in two installments, the $900,000 line of credit never came through, according to the indictment. The alleged co-conspirators took notice of the church's frustration on March 24, 2017.

“On that day, Co-Conspirator 1 sent a letter to Miller on the letterhead of Insurance Company A, with the stated intent that Miller share the letter with frustrated C&D/CCP clients,” the indictment states. “In the letter, Co-Conspirator 1 related that the delay in funding was caused by a typographical error that occurred in a document related to the wiring of funds. The letter then falsely stated that the 'final documents' were going to be submitted to 'Morgan Stanley' and that the transaction would be 'monetized' by Mellon Bank.”

But, the indictment alleges, “none of the co-conspirators or related entities had any relationship whatsoever with those two entities.”

With a second client, a construction company owner based in Chesterfield, Va., McNeill and others allegedly promised a $1 million line of credit for a construction company, again seeking a 10% deposit, as well as a $1.5 million line of credit for a church with a 10% deposit, the indictment states.

Those, according to the indictment, were just two of the instances in which McNeill, Miller and others requested a 10% deposit for a line of credit on which they never delivered, as the alleged conspiracy is said to have stretched from September 2016 through Feb. 19, 2019.

McNeill remains free on his own recognizance, but may not travel outside of Pennsylvania or Virginia without permission of the court.