NEW ORLEANS — Former First NBC Bank chief executive Ashton Ryan has been found guilty on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy related to the bank’s collapse.
The verdict comes after a five-week trial that laid out the massive bank fraud and conspiracy case that led to First NBC’s spectacular $1 billion collapse in 2017.
Ryan’s defense attorney, Eddie Castaing, argued his client started First NBC in 2006 to help his community rebuild from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and, while he may have made some bad loans to help people and businesses recover, he did so in good faith and never with any intent to defraud the bank he ran and created.
“We’re very disappointed with the verdict. We will be filing post-trial motions and will appeal," Castaing said.
Ryan took the stand in his own defense earlier this week, arguing he tried to help struggling borrowers and claiming the bank failed because "the sharks were feeding and coming after the money," according to our partners at The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate.
Prosecutors argued that Ryan conspired to give more than $263 million in bad loans to a group of six borrowers. The case against Ryan was built on guilty pleas from those six borrowers and two other former bank officials who were initially charged as co-conspirators with Ryan.
Ryan was convicted on more than 40 counts, including conspiracy, fraud and filing false bank statements. The Department of Justice says each fraud count carries up to 30 years in prison, which Judge Eldon Fallon is likely to impose concurrently. He could also sentence Ryan to as many as five years on the conspiracy count. He would also owe restitution of double the victim's losses.
The victim in the case was First NBC Bank, and the loss is likely to be $263 million. Double that would mean a fine of $526 million.
"This was a theft of epic proportions that grew from within," US Attorney Duane Evans said. "Over 500 people lost their jobs and Ashton Ryan claimed that he was helping new orleans after Katrina, but in reality, his fraud left a hole in the New Orleans economy.”
Federal prosecutors also charged former First NBC loan officer Fred Beebe with similar crimes, but the jury found him not guilty of all seven counts he faced.
First NBC’s collapse forced federal insurance to cover customers’ losses and cost the bank’s public stockholders millions.
This is a developing story. Stick with WWL-TV for the latest information.