Mark Repking, former president of Liberty Bank in Alton, has pled guilty to federal charges of falsely creating an account statement of $350,297.26 for a customer.
Repking, 46, of Godfrey, pled guilty to a felony charge of making a false statement to a bank in violation of Title 18, Section 1005 of the United States Code and a felony charge of making a false statement in a tax return in violation of Title 26, Section 7206(1) of the United States Code.
According to a press release issued by Ronald J. Tenpas, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois on Oct. 15, sentencing is set for Jan. 20, 2006.
"Repking knowingly and with the intent to injure, defraud, and deceive the bank and others, made and caused to be made a false entry in the books, reports, and statements of the bank," according to Tenpas.
Repking created an account statement showing that a customer had $350,297.26 available for withdrawl.
"Repking admitted that he knew that the false account statement of the bank would be used by the customer to create a financial statement that overstated and materially misrepresented the customer’s personal and corporate assets, and that the customer intended to use that financial statement to ultimately obtain construction bond coverage for corporate projects," according to a press release issued by Tenpas' office.
"Repking further admitted that in Spring 2003, the customer began to overdraft his checking account at the bank, eventually writing unfunded checks worth over $500,000.
"Initially, Repking concealed the overdrafts, then manipulated both his personal finances and the bank’s finances to cover some of the customer’s overdrafts.
"When the bank became aware of the government’s investigation, Repking resigned from the bank.
"Eventually, defendant reached a financial settlement with the bank, and signed a loan agreement with the customer regarding the overdrafts.
"Beyond the false account statement paperwork with the customer discussed above, Repking further admitted that he engaged in a series of unauthorized financial transactions with bank funds starting in 1999, secretly using bank funds to pay many of his personal expenses, including additions and improvements to a vacation home in Florida, furniture for his home, meals, and other personal expenses.
Unauthorized expenses and losses Repking admitted to included:
Repking is subject to a maximum penalty for the banking violation of thirty years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $1 million or both, and up to five years of supervised release. On the tax violation charge, he is subject to a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $1 million, or both, and up to one year of supervised release.