Georgia Bank Closes After Director Disappears

The FDIC announced Friday the closure of Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey, Georgia, after the disappearance of the bank's director.

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Aubrey Lee Price, an investment advisor and the director of Montgomery Bank & Trust, was ""accused by the government"":http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2012/comp22409.pdf of wire fraud related to the embezzlement of $17 million from the bank. He was also accused defrauding investors in the funds he managed. Price has reportedly been missing for several weeks since sending his associates a letter that read like a suicide note. Authorities consider him a fugitive.

Shortly after the SEC filed its complaint against Price, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the bank and appointed the FDIC as receiver. All of its deposits--$164.4 million as of March-were assumed by Ameris Bank in Moultrie, Georgia. Ameris also agreed to purchase approximately $12.4 million of Montgomery Bank & Trust's $173.6 in assets. The rest will be retained by the FDIC for later disposition.

The estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $75.2 million. Montgomery Bank & Trust is the 32nd FDIC-insured bank in the country and the sixth bank in Georgia to fail so far this year.