Union Planters official says bank seeks federal charges
Union Planters will pursue federal charges against an employee of its local bank who allegedly was the beneficiary of an unauthorized loan.
“We do prosecute in such cases, but we leave that judgment up to the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office,” said Union Planters senior vice president Charles Boyce. “We’ve provided all the information from our internal investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s office, but when we last checked it had not been assigned out to the FBI.”
Boyce, who said he could not discuss the particulars of the case, noted an unauthorized loan was discovered recently during a routine audit at the local bank. The account affected by the loan has been corrected. The amount of the unauthorized loan has not been revealed.
“We protect our customers,” Boyce said. “Our normal course of action is to restore any accounts affected and then to begin an internal investigation.”
The status of the employee suspected in the case has not been revealed; however, sources say the suspect is no longer working with Union Planters. There have been no formal charges filed against the woman since the investigation is still pending.
Boyce said prosecution of such cases generally takes a significant amount of time, and, given the environment today, this case will take longer than usual.
“At present, the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office are focusing on terrorism and homeland security and we can appreciate that,” Boyce said. “We are patient and we’re just waiting for the case to be assigned out.”
Boyce said, should federal prosecutors choose not to pursue the case, then the bank can approach local prosecutors to take the case to court. Union Planters can also pursue a civil judgment.