By Neil Lemons

The United States Attorney Office will seek an Indictment (a charging document formally charging the person with a crime) for bank fraud based upon a relatively non-complex theft or embezzlement of monies by a bank employee, or a more complex scheme to defraud based upon false statements, such as an overvaluation of property or securities. Also, the federal prosecutor office will seek an Indictment for bank fraud based upon a complex scheme to defraud, such as a scheme based upon a series of false loan applications and misuses of loaned monies or non-existent collateral.

The United States Code contains federal crimes that are prosecuted by the Department of Justice or its field offices, the United States Attorney Offices, in respective districts in the different states. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344, titled Bank Fraud, makes it a crime to defraud a bank or commit a scheme to defraud regarding the accounts of a financial institution. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1344 reads as follows:

BANK FRAUD Whoever knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice 1) to defraud a financial institution; or 2) to obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property owned by, or under the custody of or control of, a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned for more than 30 years, or both.