KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A former Bulter bank vice president and pastor pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in a $9.3 million fake cattle-buying scheme, prosecutors say.
Craig Johnson, 45, of Butler, admitted to wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and making false statements to a financial institution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Court records show that Johnson was hired at Community First Bank in 2022 as a vice president and loan officer.
At the same time, he served as a pastor at a church in El Dorado Springs until he was removed from that role in 2025, according to the documents.
How the scheme worked
Starting in at least 2024, prosecutors say Johnson asked people to “invest” with him to buy cattle that he would later sell for profit.
Deal terms varied, but the pitch was the same: Johnson would buy cattle, sell it…
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