CHARLOTTE
Investigators have charged a BB&T executive with criminal bank fraud, saying he overpaid a contractor and accepted thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks in return.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's office in Charlotte say that Chester Williams, a senior vice president at the bank, paid a contractor and longtime acquaintance more than double his fee -- and then accepted more than $100,000 from him to alleviate his own financial hardship.
"Chester has accepted responsibility for his involvement, is extremely remorseful and has assisted the government in every way possible," said Missy Owen, Williams' attorney.
Williams managed a program at BB&T that paid third-party contractors to seek lending opportunities from businesses considering buying properties in economically depressed areas, according to charges filed in federal court Monday. He hired a friend, a partner in a real-estate development company, in 2003 to identify lending opportunities.
In 2006, Williams found himself in "serious financial difficulty," and, after discussing the problem with his friend, agreed to double his monthly payments to $15,000 if the contractor would kick back some of the money to Williams, according to the charges. .
Williams concealed the payments from the bank's records, and the IRS was not aware of the contractor's extra income, the charges say.
In June 2006, Williams approved the contract to be increased to $20,000 a month, according to the charges. That year, the contractor received $247,000 from the bank and kicked back $47,500 of it to Williams.
After the federal investigation began, the contractor filed his 2007 federal income tax return and reported all payments from BB&T, including the money he'd paid to Williams.
Federal authorities accused Williams of bank fraud and submitting a false tax return, saying he "knowingly and unlawfully executed and attempted to execute a scheme ... to defraud BB&T."
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