Small town banker avoids prison in $1.6 million fraud
For the president of a small Wisconsin bank, Archie Overby led quite a lifestyle. He took family and friends on first-class to trips New York, Dallas, L.A., Disney World and other cites. He booked at least three safaris and treks in Africa, rented villas in the Caribbean for family reunions, and took an annual stay with his wife at an Arizona luxury spa.
All on the bank’s dime, though none of the trips had “any legitimate banking purpose,” according to federal court records.
Eventually, federal bank regulators caught on to the practice and a grand jury indicted Overby on 13 counts last year. This week, as part of a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to one charge of misapplication of bank funds and was sentenced. A dozen counts of bank fraud were dismissed.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach of Green Bay called Overby’s personal use of $1.6 million of the bank’s funds a serious crime and hard to understand since Overby was so “well compensated” as the president and CEO at First National Bank of Waupaca.
Griesbach concluded that it was a betrayal of trust that could only be attributed to “greed and callous disregard for others.”
U.S. Attorney Matthew Krueger stated that Overby treated the bank as his “personal piggy bank,” and the case “serves as an example that professionals who abuse their positions of trust will be held accountable.”
But citing Overby’s age — 71 — and the coronavirus pandemic, Griesbach sentenced Overby to merely pay back about $146,000, from the single count to which he pleaded guilty, on top of the larger restitution he paid as part of a prior civil action.
Overby, who appeared for his plea and sentencing via Zoom from Texas, where he now lives, will not serve any supervision or probation.
The indictment came two years after Overby settled a civil enforcement action by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of Currency, which regulates banks. He agreed to a ban from the financial industry and to repay $1.6 million, plus a $100,000 fine.
At that time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Overby denied he’d done anything wrong and blamed overzealous regulators for victimizing him and attacking his reputation.
In May 2017, Overby’s bank and its holding company, Waupaca Bancorporation Inc., were acquired by Bank First National Corporation, based in Manitowoc.
Federal court records do not indicate what, if any, relation the merger may have had to federal regulator’s civil action against Overby.
Overby was the president, CEO and chairman of the board of directors at the Waupaca bank, and a board member and shareholder of the Waupaca Bancorporation.
The indictment charged that Overby used the bank’s and his personal American Express cards for his trips, and ordered bank employees to pay the bills in ways that disguised the timing and nature of the expenses.
He told the bank’s board that some costs in a summarized miscellaneous expense letter he had prepared were not directly bank-related, but benefited all the employees and was good for productivity, and further faked a letter from an internal auditor that some bank-funded personal expenses were fine.
In 2012 and 2013, Overby was paid about $760,000, plus a Cadillac Escalade, country club membership, two cellphone plans, a 100% match on his 401(k) contributions and other perks, according to Office of the Comptroller of Currency records.
Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 2242187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.