Greg's Corner

Banker Who Fell Victim to Scam Gets Prison Time

By Greg Collier

Last year, we brought you the story of a rural Kansas bank that collapsed after the Bank’s CEO fell victim to the pig butchering scam. The pig butchering scam involves a scammer persuading a victim to invest in cryptocurrency using a fake exchange. The victim is then shown that their initial investment has grown significantly. However, when they attempt to withdraw their funds, they are informed that an additional fee, often as large as the original investment, must be paid first.

A federal judge recently sentenced the 53-year-old bank CEO to 24 years in prison after it was determined the CEO embezzled bank funds while still believing he could get the returns on his investments.

As was mentioned in the previous post, the CEO even asked a friend and client for a $12 million loan, so the CEO could get his personal money out of the cryptocurrency investment. The friend was even assured by the CEO that the initial investment wasn’t made with the bank’s money. Since then, details have been made public where the friend warned the CEO that the investments were a scam and that he should walk away from it.

The CEO did not take his friend’s advice, and in his pursuit of profit, continued to send money to his scammers. However, before long, he was wiring bank funds to the scammers. When the friend heard from bank employees that the CEO was wiring money overseas, the friend went to the bank’s board to try to put a stop to it. Before it was all over, the CEO had embezzled $47.1 million.

Anyone can fall victim to a scam, regardless of their education, experience, or financial savvy. Scammers are highly skilled at exploiting vulnerabilities, preying on trust, greed, or desperation. They use sophisticated tactics to create a sense of urgency, promising quick and substantial returns on investments that seem too good to pass up. Once a victim is hooked, they are gradually drawn deeper into the scam, often believing that just one more payment will unlock the profits they were promised. The allure of easy money can cloud judgment, leading even those in trusted positions to make increasingly irrational decisions.

These scams can easily turn a victim into a criminal. When personal funds run dry, desperation sets in, and victims may resort to unethical or illegal actions to recover their losses. They might embezzle money, falsify documents, or deceive others to gather more funds, all in the hope of finally reaping the rewards they were promised. What began as a mistake can spiral into a series of criminal acts, driven by the delusion that success is just around the corner. This transformation from victim to perpetrator highlights how dangerous and insidious these scams can be, not just financially but morally as well.