Former restaurant owner sentenced to prison for bank fraud

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A former Montana restaurant owner has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution for bank fraud.

Ken Hatzenbeller of Great Falls was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to bank fraud.

Prosecutors said he borrowed $490,000 from Zions Bank in September 2014 and another $600,000 from Yellowstone Bank in Billings in September 2015. In both cases he said he was using the money to purchase equipment and furniture for Chili’s restaurants owned by his company, Shoot the Moon. The money was used for other expenses.

Shoot the Moon filed for bankruptcy a month after Hatzenbeller got the Yellowstone Bank loan.

Hatzenbeller must complete 400 hours of community service in the first year after he is released from prison.