NASHVILLE — A Berrien County businessman pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement.

Rickey Carter, 60, of Nashville pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and faces up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine, the statement said. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 15; there is no parole in the federal judicial system.

Carter was the president and chief executive officer of Nashville Tractor, which sold and leased agricultural and construction equipment and had locations in Nashville and Valdosta.

In 2010, Carter entered into a deal with CNH Industrial Capital America to finance Nashville Tractor’s purchases of inventory. He also entered into a deal with CNH under which CNH would purchase Nashville Tractor’s interest in retail installment contracts for the purchase of agricultural and construction equipment with retail customers.

During 2015, Nashville Tractor had financial and cash flow problems which made it difficult to make loan payments and payroll. During that time, Carter began selling equipment which was held in trust but not paying the cash over to CNH and other creditors as required, the federal statement said.

Carter sold more than $1.5 million of equipment subject to the security interest of CNH and secured financing from Kubota Credit Corporation, Ameris Bank, Bank of Alapaha and Diversified Financial Services. He falsified Nashville Tractor’s financial records in order to inflate the company’s net worth, the justice department said.

In 2016, Carter falsified documents provided to Farmers and Merchants Bank to secure a Small Business Administration loan for $5 million and a line of credit, the statement said.

Carter also created fraudulent contracts for the sale or lease of items with CNH using the names of real people whose information was available to him; those fake contracts generated more than $1.2 million in payments to Nashville Tractor, the justice department said.

In total, Carter admitted to being accountable for fraud losses totaling more than $3.5 million but not more than $9.5 million, the statement said. He is liable for restitution to Farmers and Merchants Bank ($1,227,319.66), the Small Business Administration ($1,500,000), Ameris Bank ($321,934.50), Bank of Alapaha ($150,000), CNH ($2,782,959.99), Kubota Credit ($185,993.32) and Diversified Financial Services ($228,399.92), the statement said.

The case was investigated by the FBI and FDIC’s Office of the Inspector General, the justice department said.