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A fraud case that contributed to the recent failure of Montgomery Bank in Georgia could lead to more regulatory scrutiny when community banks look for outside investors.
July 12 -
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey on Friday. Ameris Bank in Moultrie, Ga., agreed to assume all of the bank's $164.4 million in deposits.
July 6 -
Authorities are searching for Aubrey Lee Price, a former director of Montgomery Bank & Trust, on charges that he bilked investors out of $40 million since 2008.
July 9
A former Georgia community banker who faked his own death two years ago was sentenced on Tuesday to serve 30 years in prison for committing fraud that led to a bank's failure.
Aubrey Lee Price
Court filings showed that four years ago an investment group controlled by Price invested approximately $10 million in MB&T. When Price was made a director at MB&T, he told officials that the bank's capital would be invested in U.S. Treasury securities. However, he instead embezzled over $21 million in capital from MB&T in risky equity investments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a release.
Meanwhile, to cover up his fraud, Price provided MB&T officials with false account statements and documents that indicated the bank's capital was safely held in an account at a financial services firm.
Price disappeared in June 2012
However, in January 2013, Price was arrested in Brunswick, Ga., after he provided false identification during a routine traffic violation.
A federal receiver appointed to recoup money for Price's investors collected about $3.3 million as of July 30, according to the Associated Press. But this includes $1.8 million in life insurance payments made after Price was declared dead that the insurers are seeking to take back, the AP said.