Fraud Friday — Ex-Mayor, Bank SVP Sentenced to 13 Years for $6 Million Loan Fraud

March 23, 2018

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Fraud Friday

Fraud Friday — Ex-Mayor, Bank SVP Sentenced to 13 Years for $6 Million Loan Fraud

A photoshop fake loan documents expert who was an ex-mayor, bank executive and church leader of Enid, Oklahoma — 65 year-old Ernie Currier — will be spending his golden retirement years in an Oklahoma state prison.

Over 18-years the former Senior Vice President of Security National Bank stole the identities of his customers and friends to churn 61 fake loans totalling $6 million. The loss to the bank is $2 million.

One victim of identity theft was a friend and fellow parishioner at the First Baptist Church of Enid. Ernie told the man he needed to conduct a background check on him if he wanted to help out at the church. Dutifully, the man gave Ernie all of his personal information.

Soon loans appeared in the man’s name on the books of Security National Bank. The first loan was opened Nov. 15, 2016, in the amount of $100,000; the second opened Dec. 1, 2016, in the amount of $75,000; and the third opened July 13, 2017, in the amount of $90,000.

Reports the Enid News:

“Currier initially tried reassuring the citizen that the bank had made an error and that his identity had not been stolen. Ultimately, through a series of later phone calls, Currier confessed that he’d used the citizen’s personal information to open several fraudulent loans at the bank. Currier also admitted that other individuals were victimized.”

Bank records indicated Currier disbursed the loans by using wire transfers to a variety of business and personal accounts held at other financial institutions. Currier had established the other accounts by using sham companies and counterfeit personal information, according to Captain Tim Jacobi. Once the proceeds were transferred, Currier would typically use a portion of the funds to make loan payments and another portion for his personal use.

“The banking records clearly indicated that Ernst Currier routinely used portions of the unlawful proceeds for his own personal gain,” Jacobi said. “To keep his criminal activity concealed and to further the scheme, Currier manufactured a large collection of fabricated documents over the years.”

Those documents included fraudulent tax returns, forged loan applications, financial statements, identification documents and profit and loss statements, Jacobi said. He also set up several post office boxes to direct mail and to give the appearance of a legitimate address.

He was named the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 2016.

Read our previous reporting here:

Former May, Bank Sr. VP Indicted on 33 Counts of Loan Fraud, November 17, 2017