Fraud Friday — Bank President Guilty of Bank Fraud and Arson Violations
June 12, 2020
By Caity Witucki
Contributing Editor, Fraud Friday
Fraud Friday — Bank President Guilty of Bank Fraud and Arson Violations
On June 5, 2020, Anita Gail Moody, the former president of Enloe State Bank, pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme and setting fire to financial documents to cover up her crime. Moody has agreed to a sentence of seven years in federal prison and to pay $11,136,241 in restitution
According to information presented in court, on May 11, 2019 — a day before Enloe State Bank was scheduled for a routine review by the Texas Department of Banking — someone stacked files on a boardroom table and set them on fire. Investigators say a lack of oxygen kept the fire from spreading to the rest of the building, but the entire bank suffered smoke damage.
“Those items were piled on the board room table and set afire,” said Texas Department of Banking Commissioner Charles Cooper. “That was an indication something was wrong.”
A subsequent investigation conducted by the FDIC OIG revealed that Moody had created over 100 false nominee loans, many of which were made in the names of bank customers. Collectively, the loans were worth over $11 million dollars.
Moody later admitted to setting the fire in the boardroom to cover up the criminal activity concerning the false loans. She also admitted to using the fraudulently obtained money to fund her boyfriend’s business, other businesses of friends, and her own lifestyle.
On May 31, 2019, the Texas Department of Banking closed Enloe State bank, citing ‘insider abuse and fraud by former officers.’ It is the first bank failure in the nation since Washington Federal Bank for Savings closed in Illinois in December 2017.
Sources:
The Dallas Morning News
Department of Justice
Daily Mail – Mugshot from unrelated DWI Arrest