OCC, Thoe agree to consent order
By Robert Cloud
A former Waupaca bank officer was fined $5,000.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) accused Sylvia Thoe of failing to prevent former president and CEO Archie Overby from using bank funds “for his personal expenses.”
Thoe, who retired as an employee of First National Bank on June 30, 2010, entered into a consent order with the OCC in late June of this year.
The OCC, which regulates federally chartered banks, noted Thoe does not “admit or deny any wrongdoing.”
According to the consent order, Thoe was on the bank’s board of directors since 2005 and a member of the board’s Executive Compensation Committee from at least 2010 to 2013.
The OCC says Thoe allowed Overby to receive “excessive compensation” and “failed to recuse herself from voting on the bank’s former president, CEO and chairman’s compensation even though she had a conflict of interest because he was personally indebted to the respondent (Thoe) and her husband in an amount exceeding $2 million.”
Overby was a director, president and CEO of First National Bank from August 1979 through May 31, 2016.
In 2014, First National Bank’s total assets were $795 million, according to FDIC figures.
By the end of 2015, the bank’s total assets had dropped to approximately $548 million, following the sale of branch offices in Texas and the charge-off of more than $16.5 million in loans in 2013 and 2014 combined.
At the end of 2016, the bank’s total assets were down to nearly $479 million.
Between 2010 and 2014, First National Bank paid Overby a total of $3.57 million in base salary and bonuses.
The OCC said the bank also paid Overby more than $1.62 million for personal expenses from 2010 to 2013.
Describing his compensation as excessive, the OCC ordered Overby to pay $1.6 million in restitution and $100,000 in fines.
The OCC’s March order also prohibits Overby from participating in the affairs of or holding a job with any financial institution.
In May, Bank First National, headquartered in Manitowoc, announced plans to acquire First National Bank in a cash-and stock-transaction for approximately $76 million.