(Oklahoma City) – A former Spirit Bank loan officer pleaded guilty in Oklahoma City federal court Monday to embezzling bank funds between 2004 and 2007 while he was working at the Stillwater branch, authorities said.
Larry Don Collins, 44, of Perkins, stipulated in a plea agreement that the provable loss was between $200,000 and $400,000, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Troester said Monday.
Collins embezzled bank funds between June 14, 2004, and Feb. 27, 2007, by making fraudulent loans to six individuals and using the proceeds for himself, U.S. Attorney John C. Richter for the Western District of Oklahoma charged.
Collins was employed by Spirit Bank as a loan officer from June 26, 2000, to March 26, 2007, according to Joyce Madewell, executive vice-president for marketing at the bank’s main office in Tulsa.
Collins worked at the bank’s Cushing branch until 2004 when the Stillwater branch was opened, she said.
Collins is currently unemployed and remains free on his own recognizance, court records show.
Collins will be required to pay restitution, the amount of which will be determined at his sentencing hearing, which will be held in about 90 days before U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot, Troester said.
Collins could be given as much as a 30-year prison term and a $1,000,000 fine, followed by as much as five years of supervised release, Troester said.
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