An accountant from Colby, KS, was sentenced to 48 months in prison on Dec. 3 after admitting this past summer to defrauding clients, who were his family members, and using part of the money to build a home, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas said.
According to KSN-TV in Kansas, court records show that 45-year-old Quintin Flanagin, a CPA, used his status as a signatory on his clients’ business account and trust account to take money from them and transfer it to “Middle Finger Ranch,” a made-up name linked to his personal account.
Between December 2021 and August 2022, checks and wire transfers totaling $409,710 were deposited in Flanagin’s account. The memo lines of the checks indicated they were for farm operations.
“The name of Mr. Flanagin’s fictitious ranch speaks for itself,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said in a press release. “After stabbing his family in the back, Flanagin lied to their faces. When the victims directly questioned him about accounting inconsistencies, he fabricated convoluted flowcharts and blamed third parties for the fraudulent checks. In his hubris, Flanagin thought he could outsmart federal investigators and forensic accountants. He was wrong.”
Flanagin had originally been charged in April 2024 with 18 counts: six for wire fraud, four for bank fraud, two for false statements, and six for money laundering. He agreed to a plea deal in May 2025, but it wasn’t filed until August for four counts: wire fraud, bank fraud, false statements, and money laundering. The others were dropped.
The plea agreement required him to forfeit about $369,000 in assets, pay back about $51,000 to the couple, and surrender his CPA license.
Recommended Articles
The Wichita Eagle reported last August that Flanagin was a signatory on the bank accounts, a tax accountant, and executor of the wills of the couple from whom he stole. It was reported at the time that they had been his clients for 15 years when he started sending money to his personal bank account.
Stephen A. Cyrus, special agent in charge of the FBI Kansas City field office, said Flanagin abandoned his fiduciary duties.
“Instead of acting with integrity and in the interest of his clients, the defendant used his position to personally benefit from the scheme,” Cyrus said in the Dec. 3 release. “Today’s sentencing reiterates the severity of the case and the seriousness by which the FBI takes financial fraud schemes.”
Tribune News Service contributed to this article.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
