Oct 26, 2009 12:26 pm US/Central
Palos Hills Bank Pleads Guilty To Criminal Charges
PALOS HILLS, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
A southwest suburban community bank has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges alleging the bank conspired to violate federal regulations in 2001.
Family Bank and Trust at 10360 South Roberts Road in Palos Hills was charged Friday with one count of conspiracy in a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
The bank allegedly failed to file multiple currency transaction reports involving deposits totaling more than $800,000, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office.
The transactions are allegedly connected with a pseudoephedrine trafficking conspiracy, as well as former president Marvin Siensa, the news release said.
The bank has agreed to plead guilty and face a sentence of two years probation forfeiture of the $800,000, the release said. The forefeiture will be paid by the bank and one of its shareholders
No customer deposits were affected, and the new ownership and management of the bank are not connected to the charges, the release said.
The bank has also agreed to relinquish claims to $2,179,008 being held by the government as a result of prosecution in United States v. Esawi, in which multiple defendants were convicted of engaging in an international pseudoephedrine trafficking conspiracy, the release said.
Court records in the case show the defendants structured cash deposits from the pseudoephedrine trafficking into multiple accounts at Family Bank to disguise the illegal proceeds, the release said.
According to the charging document, between March and August 2001, Family Bank and Trust, together with Marvin Siensa and others, took part in the conspiracy. Siensa, who died in early 2008, was the bank's former president CEO.
As part of the conspiracy, the bank received cash in amounts exceeding $10,000 to be deposited into various customer accounts while failing to file the required cash transaction reports. Deposits exceeding $10,000 would be deposited into various accounts to conceal the relationship between the depositors and the transactions, and to avoid filing reports.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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