Indiana Lawyer Robert Schlyer Convicted of Using Fake Trust Papers to Take $300,000 From Elderly Couple

Case from 2017–2020 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Oct. 10, 2017; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Robert Jon Schlyer, a lawyer licensed in Illinois who lived in Portage, Ind., was convicted by a federal jury on Oct. 6, 2017, of two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and one count of bank fraud. Prosecutors said he gave an elderly couple and Amcore Bank fake documents to delay foreclosure on a 10.4-acre parcel in Aurora, leaving the couple out of $300,000 [1].

Outcome: U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve denied Schlyer's motions for acquittal and a new trial on Jan. 30, 2018, and sentenced him on April 19, 2018, according to the court docket [2]. We did not find the length of his sentence in the docket entries or public reports we reviewed. The Seventh Circuit later noted that the judge in Schlyer's case declined to order restitution to the bank [4]. His clients Kevin LeBeau and Brian Bodie, convicted in a separate trial, were each sentenced to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,016,000 in restitution. The Seventh Circuit affirmed their convictions on Feb. 4, 2020 [4].

How the scheme worked

According to evidence at Schlyer's trial, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. The loan: In 2004 Amcore Bank took a mortgage on the Aurora property after lending $1.9 million to refinance and redevelop it. LeBeau and Bodie personally guaranteed the loan.
2. Default: By fall 2005 the loan was in default, and the bank sued to foreclose. Schlyer represented LeBeau and Bodie in that suit.
3. The fake trust: Schlyer got $300,000 from an elderly retired couple by giving them documents that made their money look like a safe investment in the redevelopment, secured by a trust. He claimed to be the trustee. Prosecutors said there was no trust and he was not a trustee.
4. Concealment: Schlyer and his co-schemers hid the foreclosure suit and LeBeau's and Bodie's inability to pay the bank from the couple. Part of the couple's money went to pay down the bank loan.
5. Forged commitments: The men gave the bank forged and fabricated documents making it appear investors had committed about $1.5 million to the project.

The foreclosure eventually went through, and the property was sold in 2010 at a significant loss to the bank [1].

The people charged

Robert Jon Schlyer, of Portage, Ind. (47 at conviction)

• Verdict (Oct. 6, 2017): guilty on two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and one count of bank fraud, after a four-day trial [1].
• Post-trial motions: denied Jan. 30, 2018 [2].
• Sentencing (April 19, 2018): sentencing held and judgment entered the same day; the term is not stated in the docket text we could access [2].

Kevin LeBeau, of Aurora, and Brian Bodie, of Chicago

• Verdict: convicted by a jury in 2017 on all counts, including bank fraud and making false statements to a bank [4].
• Sentences: each got 36 months in prison, two years of supervised release and $1,016,000 in restitution from U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman [4]. The docket shows Bodie was sentenced Oct. 18, 2018 [3].
• Appeal: affirmed, United States v. LeBeau, 949 F.3d 334 (7th Cir. 2020) [4].

The investigation was conducted by FBI Chicago [1].

Red flags

• An "investment secured by a trust" where the person selling it is also the trustee.
• A developer's lawyer pitching you to put money into the developer's project.
• No mention of lawsuits or liens. Always search court records for foreclosure cases on the property.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Search the county recorder and court records for mortgages, liens and foreclosure cases before investing in real estate.
2. Ask to see the trust document, and have your own lawyer review it.
3. Report suspected fraud by an attorney to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov and to the state attorney disciplinary agency (in Illinois, the ARDC).

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Robert Jon Schlyer, Portage, Ind.	N.D. Ill. (Judge St. Eve)	Convicted by jury Oct. 6, 2017, on 2 counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and 1 count of bank fraud; post-trial motions denied Jan. 30, 2018; sentenced April 19, 2018 (term not found)	[1], [2]
Kevin LeBeau, Aurora	N.D. Ill. (Judge Gettleman)	Convicted by jury in 2017; 36 months, $1,016,000 restitution; affirmed Feb. 4, 2020	[3], [4]
Brian Bodie, Chicago	N.D. Ill. (Judge Gettleman)	Convicted by jury in 2017; sentenced Oct. 18, 2018, to 36 months, $1,016,000 restitution; affirmed Feb. 4, 2020	[3], [4]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Federal Jury Convicts Lawyer on Charges of Defrauding an Elderly Couple and a Bank to Prevent Foreclosure on Aurora Property," Oct. 10, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-jury-convicts-lawyer-charges-defrauding-elderly-couple-and-bank-prevent
2. CourtListener, docket for United States v. Schlyer, No. 1:17-cr-00030 (N.D. Ill.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6287959/united-states-v-schlyer/
3. CourtListener, docket for United States v. Lebeau et al., No. 1:14-cr-00488 (N.D. Ill.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/8497234/united-states-v-lebeau/
4. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. LeBeau, Nos. 18-1656 and 18-3366, decided Feb. 4, 2020. https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Path=Y2020%2FD02-04%2FC%3A18-1656%3AJ%3AWood%3Aaut%3AT%3AfnOp%3AN%3A2468398%3AS%3A0&Submit=Display

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