Former Wilmington Trust Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Charges

A former official of Wilmington Trust pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy charges.

Brian Bailey, who oversaw Wilmington Trust's lending activity in Delaware, conspired to conceal the company's actual financial condition, according to a news release issued Monday by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The conspiracy involved extending credit to keep existing loan interest payments current, causing the bank to misrepresent its reporting of past-due and nonperforming loans.

Bailey faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.

Wilmington Trust, which received $330 million in funds through Tarp in 2008, was acquired by M&T, in Buffalo, N.Y., for $351 million in November 2010.

Bailey conspired with Joseph Terranova and others, allowing the bank to file false "call reports" with federal financial regulators on a quarterly basis throughout 2009, according to the release. For example, the bank underreported its past due and nonperforming commercial real estate loans by approximately $186 million in the first quarter of 2009; $234 million in the second quarter; $463 million in the third quarter; and $373 million in the fourth quarter.

Terranova pleaded guilty to the conspiracy last May.

"Bailey's underlying conduct of approving supplemental financing for failing borrowers contributed substantially to the bank's demise," Charles Oberly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said in a statement.

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