De Pere business owner, recipient of WEDC loans, indicted for bank fraud

DE PERE  — A Wisconsin businessman indicted in an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain bank loans says he did nothing wrong.

Ronald Van Den Heuvel of De Pere was indicted Tuesday, April 19th, along with his wife and a bank employee.

The indictment alleges Van Den Heuvel; his wife, Kelly; and Paul Piikkila, a loan officer at Horicon Bank, conspired to defraud the bank through loans made in 2008 and 2009.

Van Den Heuvel tells WLUK-TV a jury of his peers will find he did nothing illegal. The three are due in court May 6.

Van Den Heuvel is a longtime contributor to state politicians. The alleged bank fraud is separate from business deals in which Wisconsin's flagship jobs agency gave his businesses more than $1 million in loans.