The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Department of Treasury Inspector General are investigating whether or not certain national bank executives lied to or misled bank examiners, CNBC has learned.
The investigations stem from mandatory audits — called “material loss reviews” — conducted by government accountants in the wake of bank failures. In a number of cases in the past year — sources put it between five and ten — auditors have found enough evidence of fraud by bankers that they referred the cases to criminal investigators within the Treasury Inspector General’s office for a more detailed analysis.
Investigators are now looking at whether bankers hid bad loans from federal bank examiners or lied to them in the months before the banks failed, the sources said.
“These are cases that involve possible misrepresentation or false statements to bank regulators and impeding their work in conducting a proper investigation of the bank,” Treasury Inspector General Eric Thorson told CNBC.
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