Former Minden bank CEO pleads guilty to fraud

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

A former Minden bank president, accused of creating $5.7 million in losses over nearly 10 years, pleaded guilty to felony bank fraud Wednesday in U.S. District Court. He faces up to 30 years in prison for the crime.

Ray Van Norman, 80, as the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors at Minden Exchange Bank and Trust Co., defrauded the bank for nearly a decade, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher.

Van Norman created fictitious lines of credit, then used money from them to pay down outstanding balances on poor performing loans at the bank.

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He also renewed old loans and granted new loans for borrowers he knew to be unqualified to receive additional funding. To make it look like the borrowers were qualified, Van Norman falsified financial statements and other reports.

Van Norman would then accept promissory notes payable to himself and customers of the bank in exchange for granting unauthorized loans.

He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or both, when he is sentenced. He may also be ordered to pay restitution. His sentencing date is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2009.