Former Camargo Bank President Sentenced to Prison
May 15, 2018 / Source: FDICIG
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 4, 2018
Former Camargo Bank President Sentenced to Prison
OKLAHOMA CITY – Former First State Bank of Camargo President STEPHEN GREGORY WARD, 53, of Edmond, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to eighteen months in prison for conspiring to misapply bank funds, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
According to charges filed in September 2017, banking regulators closed First State Bank of Camargo in 2011, one hundred years after it opened. The bank was critically undercapitalized because Ward allowed bank insiders to pay personal and business checks when their accounts had insufficient funds. Between 2006 and 2011, the practice of using deposits of other customers to cover insiders’ overdrafts led certain bank employees to manipulate bank ledgers and records, which caused a significant under-reporting of overdrafts to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The charges identify numerous instances in which Ward personally took advantage of the bank’s illegal treatment of overdrafts.
On September 29, 2017, Ward pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Yesterday, Chief U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced him to eighteen months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He must also pay $95,149.38 Judge Heaton also sentenced yesterday NICKI S. DAY and MARJORIE H. COLE, both of Camargo. These two women worked at the bank and pleaded guilty to conspiring with Ward. Cole also pleaded guilty to failing to report income from the conspiracy on her 2008 federal income tax return. Each will serve one year and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Day was ordered to pay $140,768.05 to the FDIC; Cole was ordered to pay $733,473.64 to the FDIC and $89,996 to the Internal Revenue Service.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry A. Kelly.
Reference is made to public filings for further information.
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