Newsroom

August 28, 2013

Bank executive pleads guilty to TARP abuse

Aug. 29, 2013 – The former chairman and CFO of Mainstreet Bank, in Ashland, Mo., has pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about using Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to buy a luxury condo in Fort Myers, Fla.

Darryl Layne Woods and other executives at the bank took more than a third of the TARP funds they received to purchase a $381,000 condo for their collective use.

Special Inspector General for TARP Christy Romero was quoted in The Hill as saying, "The purpose of TARP is to promote financial stability and lending in a time of national economic crisis, not to bankroll the purchase of luxury vacation properties for bank executives."

According to the newspaper, Woods has waived his right to a grand jury, resulting in a plea agreement after which he faces a possible $100,000 fine and year-long sentence in federal prison.

A report released by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program found that of the 332 banks that participated in the Treasury's small business lending fund program, 137 of them used more than half of the $4 billion disbursed by the program to help fund their exits from TARP, not to provide much needed small business loans. One community banker described it as "a bit of a shell game."