Former Delaware Bank Exec Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

A former senior bank official of a Delaware bank that received government funds pleaded guilty to bank conspiracy fraud, according to a joint announcement from the ""Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program"":http://www.sigtarp.gov/Pages/home.aspx (SIGTARP) and the ""U.S. Attorney's office"":http://www.justice.gov/usao/de/ for Delaware.

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Joseph Terranova once served as a VP and division manager for the commercial real estate division of Wilmington Trust Company, which is also a bank that received TARP funds.

According to the release, Terranova provided credit to bank customers under terms that were not consistent with standards approved by the bank's loan committee.

He also attempted to hide the financial condition of the bank, partly by providing new loans to clients so that the clients could keep existing loans current. He also misrepresented the bank's past due and non-performing loans in reports.

He faces a maximum penalty of fives years and a $250,000 fine.

""The bank was a Delaware institution, and its demise came at significant cost, economically and emotionally, to the citizens of this state. We hope that in bringing these charges and securing a conviction, others will be deterred from engaging in similar conduct,"" said Charles M. Oberly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware