WASHINGTON, D.C. – A former banker with Great Bend connections now residing in Johnson County was sentenced Monday to three years probation and banned from working as a banker, announced Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Christy Goldsmith Romero and U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Michael W. Yancey, 59, Olathe, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements on a loan application. In his plea, he admitted the crime took place while he was working as a senior vice president and commercial lender at Farmers Bank and Trust N.A. in Overland Park. Farmers Bank is headquartered in Great Bend.
Yancey conspired with another person to obtain and maintain a business loan of $850,000 from Farmers Bank for two companies by falsely representing the terms of a real estate purchase in Basehor. He falsely represented to the bank that the property’s purchase price was $1.1 million when in fact it was $850,000.
The false information made it appear the loan conformed to a maximum 75 percent loan-to-value ratio when in truth the loan was approximately 97 percent of the purchase price. He also falsely stated that the loan involved a seller carryback of $150,000 and a borrower equity injection of $125,000.
Yancey was charged in May 2014. He faced a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
SIGTARP, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor - Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor - Employee Benefits Security Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble worked on the case.
SIGTARP is a federal law enforcement agency that targets crime at financial institutions or in TARP housing programs and is an independent watchdog protecting the interests of the America people.
In June 2009, Farmers Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Farmers Bank, received $12 million in federal taxpayer funds through the U.S. Department of the Treasury Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In November 2012, Treasury sold its TARP investment in Farmers Enterprises back to the bank for approximately $11.5 million, and the bank exited TARP.
The bank’s repurchase of the shares at a discount resulted in a principal loss on the TARP investment of approximately $500,000.
However, SIGTARP spokesperson Robert Sholars said only about half of the banks and other companies that Treasury invested via the TARP bailout in repaid in full. So a loss in itself is not abnormal.
