Cass farmer gets 42 months in prison, will pay $5 million restitution in bank fraud case

David C.L. Bauer, Jacksonville Journal-Courier, Ill.Jacksonville Journal-Courier

Sep. 24—A Cass County man will have to pay almost $5 million in restitution and spend 42 months in prison for a scheme in which he amassed millions in loans and then tried to file for bankruptcy.

Travis L. Murphy of Chandlerville also will be under three years of supervised release after his prison term ends, according to the sentence.

Murphy was indicted in 2023 on bank fraud charges and pleaded guilty in 2025. He was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Urbana.

Court records said Murphy and others at his business, Murphy Farms, started receiving or extending more than $8.4 million in loans through UMB Bank in 2016. For almost two years, according to court records, he engaged in a scheme to "defraud UMB Bank and others to obtain property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises."

He did this, according to prosecutors, by altering a bid for construction of a grain complex to $2.6 million instead of the actual $986,837. Using that valuation and tax returns that reflected higher income than what was filed with the IRS — a 2014 tax return provided to the bank had income of $248,415 but the return filed with the IRS had income of $48,415, for example — he was able to get more money from the bank.

The scheme unraveled when Murphy filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, according to court records. Bankruptcy Trustee Andrew S. Erickson raised questions about the filing, which later was denied by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary P. Gorman.

The FBI was asked to investigate, and a grand jury indicted Murphy in 2023.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Colin S. Bruce said the sentence reflected increased punishment because of omissions, misrepresentations and untruthful testimony provided under oath during the bankruptcy proceedings.

"Murphy worked to undermine both financial and legal processes through persistent deception. Even when his actions were challenged, he chose to continue misleading and shifting blame," FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge Ryan Presley said. "The FBI remains committed to ensuring individuals who engage in this level of dishonesty are held to account."