Former restaurant owner sentenced for securities fraud

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The president of a bankrupt regional restaurant group has agreed to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution to 13 investors in a Montana securities fraud case.

Ken Hatzenbeller, of Great Falls, earlier pleaded guilty to bank fraud has must report to a federal prison in Oregon later this month to begin serving a 30-month sentence. He was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution in that case.

The Great Falls Tribune reported Hatzenbeller was given a six-year deferred sentence Monday for securities fraud. Hatzenbeller was president of Shoot the Moon LLC, which owned 11 Chili’s restaurants in Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

Hatzenbeller’s attorney, the state prosecutor and the judge said it’s doubtful he will be able to pay all of his restitution.