An Oskaloosa businessman who vanished in July with millions of dollars has been arrested aboard a yacht docked off the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. 51-year-old Scott Hinkley ran Iowa Rural Housing and now awaits return to Iowa to face a variety of charges. Craig Goettsch is bureau chief of the Iowa Securities Division, which has been looking for Hinkley for months.Goettsch says it was the F-B-I who tracked down and arrested the former Quaker minister in St. Maarten. He says it’s unclear just how soon Hinkley will be brought back in the Hawkeye State to face mail fraud and money laundering charges.Reports say Hinkley disappeared July 2nd while on a business trip to Florida, putting more than four-and-a-half million dollars in company investments in question. Goettsch could not comment on any money that may have been recovered, although the yacht alone is worth one-point-three million.Goettsch says Hinkley is charged with felony counts of money laundering and mail fraud.Hinkley’s business, Iowa Rural Housing Inc., of Oskaloosa, is a real estate investment firm. He was involved with buying houses in small towns statewide and re-selling them for profit.
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