Wilmington Trust

Criminal Securities Fraud: Another Ex-Wilmington Trust Executive Gets His Prison Term, Former Rock Capital Trader in $13.7M Fake Profits Scam to Serve 5-Year Sentence, and Ex-NJ Financial Adviser Who Defrauded Customers Waits for Jury Verdict

Published on: January 29, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Wilmington Trust VP is Sentenced to 21-Months for Bank Fraud

A federal judge has sentenced Joseph Terranova, a Former Wilmington Trust Corp. VP and commercial real estate manager, to 21 months in prison. Terranova’s sentence comes almost five years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud related to a securities fraud that involved hiding from investors and regulators that commercial real estate loans that were past due.

Terranova is one of several Wilmington Trust executive to receive a sentence for the bank fraud, which involved fraudulent actions to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in delinquent loans. When the bank’s debt burden became public knowledge, it almost failed and was sold at a severely reduced price to M & T Bank Corp. in 2011. Meantime, bank stockholders sustained serious losses.

Criminal Securities Fraud: Jury Convicts Former NJ Investment Manager Over $10M Ponzi Scam and Wilmington Trust Executives Get Prison Term of Six Years

Published on: December 21, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In federal court in New Jersey, a jury has found former investment manager Vincent P. Falci guilty of securities fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud related to a $10B Ponzi scam that defrauded over two hundred of his former clients, including Falci’s own relatives, friends, business associates, police officers, and firefighters. Falci was formerly the fire chief in Middletown, NJ.

According to a statement by the US Justice Department, Falci convinced his clients to invest in Vicor Tax Receivables, LLP and the Saber Funds, both of which were under his control. The Saber Funds were supposed to be low risk while offering high returns. Instead, Falci diverted $10M in investors’ money either to himself, his family, and companies he ran or into more high-risk investments, including real estate and day trading, both of which led to losses.

Falci is accused of hiding the losses and fraud. He did this through fake monthly statements showing investors that they were making money, which is why clients continued to work with him. Meantime, he stole from the Vicor Funds to pay Saber Funds investors their returns that they were promised.

Wilmington Trust Agrees to $210M Settlement in Shareholders’ Bank Fraud Lawsuit

Published on: May 24, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Associated Press is reporting that the shareholders who sued Wilmington Trust are asking a federal judge to approve a proposed $210M bank fraud settlement reached with the bank. The plaintiffs contend that the bank fraudulently hid billions of dollars in bad loans while bank officials misled investors and regulators about overdue commercial real estate loans prior to its sale to M & T Bank Corp. (MTB) several years ago.

As part of the settlement, Wilmington Trust would pay $200M. KPMG, an auditing firm, would pay $10M.

The wrongdoing alleged in the shareholder lawsuit addresses a longer time period than what was noted in a parallel criminal case, in which four ex-Wilmington Trust executives were convicted on conspiracy and fraud charges. Wilmington Trust is the only financial institution to be subject to criminal charges related to TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to date.