Fraud Friday — Former Bank President Sentenced to 8 Years for Embezzling $11 Million

February 26, 2021

By Caity Witucki

Contributing Editor, Fraud Friday

Fraud Friday — Former Bank President Sentenced to 8 Years for Embezzling $11 Million

“Criminal conduct that affects the financial health of a small, local lender can send a negative ripple effect throughout the entire community,” says United States Attorney, Nicholas Ganjei. “The Eastern District of Texas will vigorously prosecute cases, such as the one here, that undermine public confidence in our local banks.”

On Tuesday, Anita Gail Moody, the former president of Enloe State Bank, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for embezzling millions of dollars and burning the incriminating records to cover her tracks. Jeannie Swaim, who served as vice president of Enloe State Bank at the time, was also involved in fraudulent conduct and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Last summer, Moody entered a plea deal in which she admitted to creating false nominee loans in the names of several people, including actual bank customers, to help fund her boyfriend’s business and maintain her lifestyle. Over a nine-year span, Moody forged over 100 fraudulent loans worth $11.1 million dollars.

Moody also admitted that just one day before Enloe State Bank was scheduled for a routine review by the Texas Department of Banking, she attempted to cover up her criminal activity concerning the false loans by stacking the files on a boardroom table and setting them on fire. 

Although investigators say a lack of oxygen kept the fire from spreading to the rest of the building, the documents were left as a pile of ash. “Those items were piled on the board room table and set afire,” says Texas Department of Banking Commissioner Charles Cooper. “That was an indication something was wrong.”

On May 31, 2019, the Texas Department of Banking closed Enloe State bank due to a high number of “irregular loans” and an extraordinarily high estimated loss rate of 75%. The closure of Enloe State Bank marks 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