Jury Delivers Verdicts in Bank of Oswego Fraud Trial

PORTLAND, Ore. – A federal jury today delivered its verdicts against two executives of the Bank of Oswego formerly headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Dan Heine and Diana Yates were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and falsifying bank entries, reports, and transactions in a five-year scheme beginning in September 2009.

Jurors found both Heine and Yates guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and twelve counts of falsifying bank entries, reports, and transactions. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of thirty years in federal prison.

“As the jury found today, Dan Heine and Diana Yates violated the law by deceiving the Bank of Oswego’s board of directors, customers, and federal regulators in an attempt to conceal the organization’s true financial condition,” said Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Together with our partners at the FBI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the integrity of our financial system from fraudulent and corrupt banking practices.”

"Banks and the people who run them should serve as the cornerstone of the American economy," said Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. "When bankers conspire, lie, and hide wrongdoing to benefit themselves, they undercut the integrity of the financial system on which we all depend."

Dan Heine, a co-founder of the bank, was president, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and member of the board of directors from September 2004 through September 2014. Diana Yates, also a co-founder, was executive vice president, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and secretary of the board of directors from 2004 through March 2012. During the conspiracy Heine and Yates concealed the true financial condition of the bank to regulators and the board of directors by falsely reporting that the bank had title to a property in a straw buyer transaction, falsely reporting that delinquent loans were paid, and falsely reporting the sale of bank owned property.

Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for March 5, 2018 in Portland. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) and prosecuted by Quinn Harrington and Michelle Kerin, Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Oregon.