Did anyone hear about this?
Regulators Seize West Virginia Bank In Suspected Fraud
Dow Jones Online News, Thursday, September 02, 1999 at 08:47
By Rick Brooks, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Federal banking regulators seized a small West Virginia bank after uncovering evidence of what they described as "apparent fraud" that left the institution with a huge capital deficit.
First National Bank of Keystone, W.Va., with assets of $1.1 billion and deposits of $881 million, was shut down by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank's primary regulator. The closing left customers unable to withdraw funds, since regulators haven't yet found another bank that is willing to assume control of those deposits.
The seizure of First National came after federal examiners found that about $515 million in loans still were being carried on the bank's books even though the loans had been securitized and sold to an outside company. Federal regulators said the bank's failure to remove those loans vastly overstated the bank's capital level.
Though it isn't clear exactly what led regulators to question the loans, the decision to close First National because of its deteriorating financial condition apparently came quickly. Regulators often shut down failed institutions after regular business hours on a Friday, reopening them under a new owner the following Monday.
In a statement, the comptroller's office said it decided to step in at First National "after finding evidence of apparent fraud that resulted in the depletion of the bank's capital." First National, with about 90 employees, is the fourth U.S. bank to be seized by regulators so far this year.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was named receiver of First National, said it hopes to arrange a transaction by Tuesday in which the bank's deposits would be assumed by another bank. If that deadline isn't met, the FDIC said it would return customer deposits up to the federal limit of $100,000 each.
First National couldn't be reached for comment. A recorded message at the bank said "all insured deposits . . . are safe" and referred callers to the FDIC.
Last year, First National's president, Billie J. Cherry, and three bank directors agreed to pay the comptroller's office penalties of $2,000 apiece, while Terry L. Church, a senior vice president, agreed to pay a $13,000 penalty to settle regulatory proceedings that were about to be launched by the comptroller's office, according to regulatory records. The officials neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
First National agreed in May 1998 to make a number of improvements to its operations, including a detailed audit of its mortgage-banking unit and to "take all steps necessary to ensure that all the bank's books, records and management information systems are maintained in a complete and accurate condition."
Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
***
Sorry no link. It doesn't seem to be a big story.
: )
hunchback |
