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The Greenville, S.C., company hired John Poelker as interim CEO and ousted its top executives less than two weeks after allegations of financial mismanagement surfaced. Poelker, known for stabilizing struggling banks, could be tasked with cleaning Certus up for a buyer.
April 10 -
Three of Certus' ousted executives depict a behind-the-scenes struggle at the Greenville, S.C., bank as management, directors and investors were often working at cross purposes. The lawsuit also discusses a possible merger with an unnamed bank that never took place.
April 24
CertusBank in Greenville, S.C., has hired a new internal auditor and promoted eight other executives as it reorganizes management weeks after the ouster of its top executives.
The $1.6 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that Deborah Ledford had become its general auditor, reporting directly to the board. She had been a group vice president and audit services director of professional practices at SunTrust Banks (STI) before joining Certus last month, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Eight newly promoted executives will report to John Poelker, who became
The reorganization allowed Certus to reduce the number of people who directly report to the president from 28 to nine, a company spokesman said.
Kelly Owens, previously chief customer officer, was placed in charge of core banking. She has been with Certus since August 2012, according to LinkedIn.
Gary Suess, who joined Certus in July, was named head of mortgage. John Handmaker was named head of national business executive/small business finance. Meril Thornton, formerly director of technology solutions, was placed in charge of operations, while Mark Abrams will handle risk and credit.
Certus named Chris Speaks head of finance and accounting. Len Davenport became head of investments and treasury, while Thomas Simpson was appointed head of legal.
Certus fired its top three executives last month after an American Banker report described the bank's losses, elevated expenses and potential conflicts of interest. The former executives Milton Jones, Walter Davis and Angela Webb subsequently
