OCC Announces Enforcement Actions for August 2024

WASHINGTON-The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released enforcement actions taken against national banks and federal savings associations (banks), and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with banks the OCC supervises.

The OCC uses enforcement actions against banks to require the board of directors and management to take timely actions to correct the deficient practices or violations identified. Actions taken against banks are:

• Formal Agreement with 1st National Bank, Lebanon, Ohio, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to strategic planning, capital planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management. (Docket No. AA-CE-2024-27).
• Formal Agreement with Generations Bank, Seneca Falls, New York, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to board oversight, strategic planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management. (Docket No. AA-NE-2024-68).
• Formal Agreement with Maple City Savings Bank, FSB, Hornell, New York, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to board oversight and corporate governance, strategic and capital planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management, and a violation relating to transactions with affiliates. (Docket No. AA-NE-2024-71).
• Formal Agreement with Slovenian S&LA of Franklin-Conemaugh, Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to strategic planning, succession planning, balance sheet management, internal audit, and the bank's Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) internal controls, audit, and training, and violations of 12 CFR 21.21 (BSA/AML compliance program) and 31 CFR 1020.210 (Customer Due Diligence). (Docket No. AA-CE-2024-65).

The OCC uses enforcement actions against an institution-affiliated party (IAP) to deter, encourage correction of, or prevent violations, unsafe or unsound practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty. Enforcement actions against IAPs reinforce the accountability of individuals for their conduct regarding the affairs of a bank. The term "institution-affiliated party," or IAP, is defined in 12 USC 1813(u) and includes bank directors, officers, employees, and controlling shareholders. Orders of Prohibition prohibit an individual from any participation in the affairs of a bank or other institution as defined in 12 USC 1818(e)(7). Actions taken against IAPs are:

• Notice of Charges for Order of Prohibition against Roberto A. Garcia, former Personal Banker at a North Miami, Florida, branch of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Columbus, Ohio. The Notice of Charges alleges, among other things, that Garcia stole over $12,000 in cash from the bank, engaged in account takeovers of bank customer accounts, and used customer accounts to pay personal expenses. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2024-54).
• Order of Prohibition against James Gomes, former Branch Manager at a New York, New York, branch of TD Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for accessing an elderly bank customer's accounts without authorization and transferring over $200,000 from the customer's accounts to his own accounts. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2024-63).
• Order of Prohibition against Priscilla Jones-Cotton, former Branch Manager at a Fort Myers, Florida, branch of PNC Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for stealing, embezzling, or otherwise misappropriating approximately $32,000 from the bank. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2024-48).
• Order of Prohibition against Deidre Katschke, former Universal Vault Specialist at BOKF, N.A., Tulsa, Oklahoma, for misappropriating approximately $42,500 in cash from the bank. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2024-60).
• Notice of Charges for Order of Prohibition against Lexus Inez Lewis, former Fraud Operations Specialist, at a Jacksonville, Florida, branch of Citibank, N.A., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Notice of Charges alleges, among other things, that Lewis made false representations in her employment application and became employed at the bank in violation of federal law; caused fraudulent transactions totaling at least $389,000 to incur on bank customers' credit card accounts; and kept bank equipment without authorization. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2014-14).
• Order of Prohibition against Maria Salazar, former Teller at a Louisville, Kentucky, branch of PNC Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for conducting unauthorized debit card transactions using bank customer accounts that totaled approximately $10,200. (Docket No. AA-ENF-2024-58).

The OCC terminates enforcement actions when a bank has demonstrated compliance with all articles of an enforcement action; or when the OCC determines that articles deemed "not in compliance" have become outdated or irrelevant to the bank's current circumstances; or when the OCC incorporates the articles deemed "not in compliance" into a new action. Termination actions include:

• Order Terminating the Formal Agreement with Beauregard Federal Savings Bank, DeRidder, Louisiana, dated September 30, 2019 (Docket No. AA-SO-2019-57). The Formal Agreement addressed unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to credit risk management, insider activities, audit and internal controls, and exception reporting. (Docket No. AA-SO-2024-69).
• Order Terminating the Formal Agreement with West Valley National Bank, Goodyear, Arizona, dated March 29, 2021 (Docket No. AA-WE-2021-12). The Formal Agreement addressed unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to Bank Secrecy Act risk management and strategic, succession, and capital planning. (Docket No. AA-WE-2024-73).

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All OCC public enforcement actions taken since August 1989 are available for download by viewing the searchable enforcement actions database at https://apps.occ.gov/EASearch.

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