The CEO of the Teachers Federal Credit Union recently pled guilty to federal bank fraud for assisting a former state senator obtain a fraudulent loan.
Federal prosecutors charged that the CEO loaned $10,000 to the former state senator currently serving 12 years in prison for defrauding investors with an oilfield company. Because the senator was not a member of the Credit Union, the loan was made in the name of one of the senator’s relatives, who signed the check over to a third-party payee.
The CEO pled guilty to bank fraud, and faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. He faces additional charges for filing a fraudulent tax return.
How do people end up facing this kind of legal trouble?
Below, we take a look at federal bank fraud and related crimes, and the penalties you could face if charged and convicted.
According to 18 U.S.C. § 1344, bank fraud is the “criminal offense of knowingly executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme or artifice to defraud a financial institution, or to obtain property owned by or under the control of a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises.”
In plain English, bank fraud is an act that uses deception to obtain money from a bank or other financial institutions. This can occur through many different means.
Federal bank fraud law is purposely written very broadly to encompass any offense that involves fraudulent bank activity. Let’s take a look at some common acts which constitute bank fraud.
Other offenses–money laundering as an example—may defraud banks as a part of a broader criminal enterprise. In this case the defendant would be subject to charges not only for money laundering, but for bank fraud as well.
Often, commission of bank fraud involves other fraud crimes. For example, if the fraud is committed by mail, the defendant may also be charged with mail fraud.
Similarly, if the fraud is committed over the Internet, it may be considered a computer crime. Identity theft, which frequently involves a computer of some kind, is also often related to bank fraud crimes.
Bank fraud is a quite serious offense, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and fines reaching $1,000,000. Importantly, this penalty is imposed for each count of bank fraud. Take writing fraudulent checks — the defendant commits the offense many times, which can result in multiple counts of bank fraud.
These crimes are almost always prosecuted federally, as most banks are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a federal organization. This can be problematic at the state level for a number of reasons.
Fortunately, however, charges do not equate to a conviction. Depending on the specifics of your case, a number of defense strategies may be available to help your case. If you are under investigation for suspected fraud or think that you could be in the near future, it’s important to take immediate action.
Fields marked with an * are required
"*" indicates required fields
Notifications