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Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Trouble Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), announced Tuesday in a press release that David Weimert, of Madison, Wisconsin, has been charged with six counts of wire fraud involving a real estate development transaction.
The indictment alleges that Weimert, "while working at Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin, Inc. (ABCW) as a Senior Vice-President in Lending Administration, and as the President of Investment Directions, Inc. (IDI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ABCW, devised and participated in a scheme to defraud IDI and obtain money by means of fraudulent pretenses," the release said.
In January, 2009, ABCW received $110 million in federal taxpayer funds through the U.S. Department of the Treasury Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Weimert allegedly misrepresented and omitted information in an effort to gain ownership interest in Chandler Creek, a joint venture partnership formed to develop an industrial park in Round Rock, Texas, and obtain a 4 percent commission fee as a part of the sale of the property.
The release continues, alleging, "Weimert falsely represented to his superiors that the Burke Group, a commercial real estate developer in Costa Mesa, Calif., would purchase IDI's share of Chandler Creek contingent on Weimert purchasing a minority interest of Chandler Creek as part of the deal, when it was Weimert who desired the minority interest for himself, not the Burke Group."
Through Weimert's alleged misrepresentations and omissions, he induced the IDI Board of Directors to accept the Burke Group's offer to purchase Chandler Creek. Weimert received a 4.785 percent ownership interest, and a 4 percent commission fee totaling $311,680.
"Weimert, a former SVP in lending at TARP-recipient AnchorBank, is charged with scamming the bank and his superiors in order to pocket more than $300,000 for himself in a fraud-laced real estate deal," Romero said. "Weimert purportedly used his position at the bank to convince his superiors that successfully closing an important real estate deal was contingent upon him being granted an ownership stake in the property, which in turn entitled him to a $311,680 payday at closing."
If convicted, Weimert faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on each count of wire fraud.
