Four Oaks in N.C. Raises $24 Million

Four Oaks Fincorp in Four Oaks, N.C., has raised $24 million through a rights offering.

The $815 million-asset company sold 24 million shares of common stock. More than 15 million of those shares were sold to Kenneth Lehman, a private investor who bought a significant stake in Four Oaks in March.

"The tremendous success of this rights offering and the associated standby offering reinforces the capital foundation of the company and builds on the positive trends in our operations and financial results," Ayden Lee, Four Oaks' president and chief executive, said in an press release Monday.

The offering provides Four Oaks with much-needed capital. The company is operating under a 2011 written agreement with the Federal Reserve Board that requires it to maintain adequate capital levels.

Four Oaks is also looking to move beyond recent legal troubles. The company was involved in Justice Department's Operation Choke Point probe, which has investigated banks' ties to payday lenders.

The company in January agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle charges it allowed a third-party vendor to illegally process payments behalf of merchants, including internet gambling organizations and a fraudulent payday lending scheme. The settlement was approved at the end of April.

Lehman, a former banking lawyer, has been buying large stakes in community banks, purchasing shares of Liberty Bell Bank in Marlton, N.J.; Delmar Bancorp in Salisbury, Md.; Marine Bank & Trust in Vero Beach, Fla.; and First capital in Glen Allen, Va.