An Atlanta man and former bank vice president has been convicted of five counts of bank fraud, which led to that bank’s failure, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday.
William “Rusty” Beamon Jr., 54, was vice president of Appalachian Community Bank in Ellijay, which was forced to close on March 19, 2010, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
“Mr. Beamon, as a banking executive, should have protected his bank and its assets from fraud, but instead he saw an opportunity to enrich his own bank account,” J. Britt Johnson, FBI special agent in charge in Atlanta, said in an emailed statement. “The federal sentencing handed down to Mr. Beamon will be not only the closing note to one man’s banking career but also to the bank that he caused to fail.”
While in charge of the bank’s foreclosure department, Beamon told a real estate agent he owned a property in Forsyth County that was bank-owned, according to prosecutors. Beamon then deposited $20,000 in rent payments into his personal bank account by leasing out the property as his own, Yates’ office said.
Beamon also caused Appalachian to sell bank-owned properties to his wife and to a shell company that he owned at prices that were substantially below what other buyers were ready, willing, and able to pay the bank, Yates said.
“Georgia leads the nation in bank failures since 2008, with 88 banks failing, including Appalachian Community Bank, the bank this defendant defrauded,” Yates said in an emailed statement. “These failures have significantly affected the economy, making these cases important to safeguard the nation’s financial health.”
Sentencing for Beamon has not yet been scheduled.
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