Former Tifton Banking CEO Indicted for Fraud

The former president and chief executive of Tifton Banking Co. in Georgia has been indicted on six counts of bank fraud. 

Gary Patton Hall Jr. hid underperforming and at-risk loans from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the bank's loan committee, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in its indictment Thursday. Meanwhile, the bank continued to approve loans that had no collateral and renew delinquent loans, the indictment claims, resulting in several borrowers defaulting on the loans.

Hall's actions, which he carried out over five years starting in 2005, cost the bank and the Small Business Administration about $2.8 million, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Moore. If found guilty he faces up to 65 months in prison.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the $144 million-asset Tifton in November 2010 due to its poor financial condition. At the time, Tifton owed $3.8 million to the Troubled Asset Relief Program. 

Hall pleaded guilty in June 2013 to charges of defrauding a bank that received Tarp funds. 

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