M&T Bank (MTB) and federal law enforcement officials have begun a fraud investigation into a former loan officer at the Buffalo, N.Y., bank.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and an attorney hired by M&T are
The fraudulent lending went on for about five years before M&T officials detected something was wrong and notified the FBI.
Investigators have found no evidence Whipple received financial benefits for arranging the loans. Some people who know him say he risked his own career to help struggling companies. Whipple, who worked at M&T for about two decades, was fired last year.
Whipple's attorney said the former loan officer is cooperating with the FBI and the bank, the newspaper said. Whipple declined to comment.
An M&T spokesman described the investigation and Whipple's alleged fraud as a "very serious matter" and that M&T is cooperating with the FBI probe as well as conducting its own investigation.
