Banner Corp. of Walla Walla, Wash., announced Wednesday that it will receive a $5.5 million insurance settlement related to a check-kiting scheme involving a former senior lending officer.
The scheme, which went on for several years, had resulted in an after-tax loss of $5.4 million for the third quarter of 2001. Banner also lost $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2002 because the officer concealed the credit weaknesses of several other loan customers.
The settlement will be added as a credit to other operating expenses in the $3.1 billion-asset company's next earnings statement, Banner said.
"While the circumstances leading to this settlement were reprehensible, we are pleased to bring this issue to an end," said D. Michael Jones, its president and chief executive officer.
