Contractor Matt Banks Indicted On Four Felony Charges Including Racketeering

April 5, 2023

A grand jury has indicted Pensacola contractor Matthew Scott Banks has been indicted on four felonies.

“Matthew Banks, a local contractor, personally and through his business Banks Construction, engaged in a pattern of criminal activity and stole over $5 million in funds, materials and services from more than 150 victims. Yesterday, Matthew Banks was indicted by an Escambia County grand jury,” State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden announced Wednesday afternoon.

Banks, 39, was indicted for racketeering, aggravated white collar crime, organized fraud, and tampering with evidence. He surrendered at the Escambia County Jail and was released on a $150,000 bond nine minutes later.

The first three counts are first degree felonies and are each punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and the fourth count is punishable by up to five years in prison. A trial date has not yet been set.

“The defendant, in this case, has been charged and will be brought to justice for exploiting innocent victims who were trying to improve their lives for his personal gain,” said Madden. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold him accountable for taking advantage of people by stealing their money and robbing them of trust in businesses. This arrest proves he is not representative of our many reputable contractors.”

The case was investigated by the Office of State Attorney Division of Investigations, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Pensacola Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Agriculture, and the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Investigative and Forensic Services.

Comments

17 Responses to “Contractor Matt Banks Indicted On Four Felony Charges Including Racketeering”

  1. Stephen on April 7th, 2023 5:34 pm

    All assets should be seized once he is convicted. House, vehicles…everything.

  2. Steve on April 7th, 2023 6:11 am

    Banks freedom is running out of time . His new prosecutor will get some punishment and Banks will be a memory .

  3. Jlb on April 6th, 2023 7:22 pm

    Need to sell everything they have…to get money for the victims.

  4. Redfish on April 6th, 2023 7:17 pm

    The point made was that it was a $150,000 bond and not a $15, 000 bond as indicated by one reader! Common knowledge how bonds work! 10% required!

  5. Bowhunter on April 6th, 2023 5:14 pm

    @Redfish Like Other’s Have Posted You Pay 10% To Bond Agent And Get Nothing Back You Lose The 15K / If He Posted The $150.000.00 He Would Get It Back At Court Date

  6. tg on April 6th, 2023 3:39 pm

    Victims will never get a dime , only satisfaction if he gets 95yrs.

  7. John Bone Jones on April 6th, 2023 2:02 pm

    dear redfish, a bail bonds place will charge you 10% of the posted bond and they pay the rest. at least that’s how i think it works.

  8. joke on April 6th, 2023 12:27 pm

    When you can’t do math and don’t know how bond works…

    Hint: 10%

  9. anne on April 6th, 2023 9:48 am

    The Crook comment makes me wonder. Why isn’t a freeze put on his accounts if his trial is pending? Why does he get to keep using stolen money? Can’t keep him in jail while he uses the money of good, trusting people to finance his freedom, again

  10. SRT on April 6th, 2023 9:38 am

    I graduated high school with this guy, according to my yearbook, but I never heard of him until he hit the news with all this fraud nonsense. What a way to become “known!” Honesty isn’t difficult, but it takes humility, which I guess he doesn’t have.

  11. Redfish on April 6th, 2023 9:35 am

    I give the reader commenters a D in reading comprehension! It clearly reads $150,000 bond and not $15k, that is unless an earlier edition indicated otherwise!

  12. Tiger on April 6th, 2023 7:30 am

    Banks is charged with stealing $5 million dollars and is released on a $15k bond.
    Another example of a failed judicial system.

  13. Kim on April 6th, 2023 7:06 am

    He’s already filled bankruptcy… so the victims are still being dragged in the mud waiting on the SLOW court system to maybe help them

  14. JJ on April 5th, 2023 7:29 pm

    NO BAIL. HE CAN NEVER MAKE GOOD ON WHAT HE
    HAS STOLEN. THIS IS A BAD INJUSTICE LETTING HIM OUT ON STOLEN MONEY!!!!

  15. Brad on April 5th, 2023 6:31 pm

    What a low life!!!!

  16. Crook on April 5th, 2023 5:17 pm

    This crook likely used some of his stolen funds to post that $15k for his bond. Courts should seize his bank accounts and all of his assets too. Then again, he’s had time to “move/hide” it now so he’ll declare bankruptcy and get away with every bit of it.

  17. Bill on April 5th, 2023 5:02 pm

    Bonding out on victims money…I hope they put him and his BIL away for many years and liquidate everything they own to hopefully recoup some of the loses the victims have had.