Two former executives at Bank of Granite Corp. have agreed to pay fines for allegedly making false statements to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and making false entries in the books of the North Carolina bank in relation to loans issued to customers as far back as 1999.
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Snipes will pay $200,000 and Gary D. Prewitt, a former vice president, will pay $25,000 in the agreed-upon settlement with federal prosecutors. The agreement comes without any admission of guilt for either Snipes or Prewitt.
The duo were alleged in a civil complaint to have made false records and statements that failed to disclose third-party liabilities on a series of loans issued for the benefit of one unnamed customer.
Bank of Granite, which was once referred to as the best-run bank in the country by Warren Buffett while other management was running the firm, was not a party to the investigation or the decision of the case.
