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WASHINGTON — Two failed banks in Florida went to one acquirer Friday, and regulators also shut a $1 billion-asset bank in Colorado, as the year's failure total reached 58.
July 22
State regulators in Colorado have filed fraud charges against the former chief executive of Bank of Choice.
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies alleges that Darrell McAllister, who was also the Greeley bank's chairman and president, conducted an unregistered offering of the bank's stock in 2008. The agency also claims that McAllister directed bank employees to encourage customers to exchange their certificates of deposit for preferred stock in trades that caused four customers to lose more than $500,000.
The complaint alleges that, under McAllister's direction, Bank of Choice employees contacted customers to encourage them to cash in their CDs and invest in preferred stock, telling them that the stock, which was redeemable in three years, paid a higher interest rate and had no risk of loss. The stock lost all its value when regulators closed the bank.
McAllister left Bank of Choice in 2010 and has been a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley since May 2011. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
