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Four Oaks Fincorp (FOFN) in Four Oaks, N.C., could raise more than $27 million in a securities agreement and rights offering.
March 26 -
Operation Choke Point prosecutors were poised to resolve their first lawsuit against a bank, but then they ran into a federal judge in North Carolina with a fondness for citing "The Sopranos" and a deep skepticism of financial services and the settlement deal.
March 19 -
The investigation's nickname is "Operation Choke Point," and that seems appropriate, because a noose appears to be tightening around the necks of banks that have ties to online payday lenders.
January 22
A federal judge on Friday approved a settlement between the Department of Justice and a small North Carolina bank that was sued as part of the Operation Choke Point probe.
U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle's decision ends months of uncertainty about the fate of a $1.2 million agreement between the DOJ and Four Oaks Bank, an $820 million-asset institution in Four Oaks, N.C.
The judge's signature represents a victory for both the Justice Department and Four Oaks.
For Justice, the Four Oaks case is the only suit filed so far as part of Operation Choke Point, the DOJ's year-long investigation into how fraudulent merchants, including some online payday lenders, access the bank payment system. In recent months,
A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The settlement's approval also allows Four Oaks to move beyond an investigation that brought the bank unwanted publicity and likely hurt its ability to raise needed capital. The bank did announce
"The bank is pleased with the court's decision to approve the settlement," Jeffrey Knowles, a lawyer at Venable LLP who represents Four Oaks, said in an email Friday. This resolves the matter and enables the bank to continue to focus on serving its customers and the greater Four Oaks community."
The DOJ's case against Four Oaks involved the bank's relationship with an unnamed Texas-based third-party payment processor, which stood between Four Oaks and more than 20 online lenders.
The complaint portrayed Four Oaks employees as willfully ignoring violations of the law in order to preserve a lucrative revenue stream.
Four Oaks made no admission of wrongdoing as part of the settlement. But the bank did
For example, if a particular online lender has seen more than 0.5% of its electronic customer debits returned because they were unauthorized, Four Oaks is permanently barred from providing banking services to that company.
Of the $1.2 million fine to be paid by Four Oaks, $1 million will go to the U.S. Treasury, while the remainder will go to a consumer protection fund that's administered by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
During a court hearing in January, Boyle expressed dismay that none of the money would go to individuals who were harmed in the Four Oaks case.
The judge also suggested at that time that he might not sign the settlement, at one point asking a Justice Department official what next steps would be taken if he refused to approve the deal.
More than 50 banks and payment processing companies have received subpoenas as part of Choke Point, according to the Justice Department.
The probe, which is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on access to the mainstream payment system, has sparked a backlash across the banking industry, the online payday loan industry, and the payment processing industry.
