Former Bibb County Bank President Charged with Bank Fraud for Creating Fraudulent Loans for Himself

BIRMINGHAM –Federal prosecutors today charged a former Bibb County bank president with bank fraud for issuing 31 fraudulent loans in the names of other people or businesses and using the proceeds for himself, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and the U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Williams.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a 31-count information in U.S. District Court charging JOHN KEVIN VANN, 55, of Tuscaloosa, with devising a scheme to defraud his employer, BankTrust Bank, which became Trustmark National Bank, of more than $100,000 between Oct. 11, 2011, and March 7, 2014.

In a plea agreement filed in conjunction with the information, Vann agrees to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud, pay $120,774 in restitution to Trustmark National Bank, and consent to forfeit the same amount to the government as proceeds of illegal activity. Vann acknowledges in the plea agreement that he has worked in the banking industry for more than 20 years and served as the community bank president of Bibb County, or in an equivalent position, between 2011-2014. In that role, Vann had access to customer names, addresses and other personal information, and used that information to execute his fraud, according to the plea agreement.

Vann took out 31 loans from the bank using the names of other individuals or business entities without their permission, and forged bank paperwork in his capacity as community president, he acknowledges in his plea agreement. Vann redirected the proceeds of the loans to himself, to businesses he controlled, and to his creditors, according to the plea agreement.

The maximum penalty for bank fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Williamson Barnes is prosecuting.

###