Capital Briefs: Former Ohio Thrift Exec Banned by OTS

The Office of Thrift Supervision has banned from banking the former general counsel of an Ohio savings institution.

Clark W. Wideman, who also was senior vice president of Jefferson Savings Bank in West Jefferson, consented Monday to leave the banking industry without admitting or denying the charges against him.

The OTS accused Mr. Wideman of having submitted a false three-year business plan to the agency in 1987 as part of a change-in-control application.

In the document, the former thrift executive said that Jefferson Savings would not try to grow or to enter into any real estate deals. The OTS charged that Mr. Wideman was indeed considering a strategy of growth and land purchases when the plan was submitted.

After the agency approved the application, Mr. Wideman participated in a number of land deals, two of which caused losses of more than $3 million to the thrift.

The OTS also charged that Mr. Wideman knowingly gave misleading legal advice to directors of Jefferson Savings about the real estate transactions. Mr. Wideman also failed to disclose the real estate deals to regulators during discussions with them, the OTS said.

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