A former loan officer and two others are indicted on charges they defrauded River City Bank.

A former bank loan officer and two others were indicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Rome.

Michael Craig Brewster, Edmond Cash and Ladonna Barton were indicted on charges concerning a scheme to defraud Brewster’s former employer, River City Bank.

“Bank insiders who allegedly abuse their position to illegally help themselves and their friends should take heed,” said Acting

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Kurt R. Erskine. “We will work diligently with our law enforcement partners to root out criminal insiders and hold them accountable.”

According to the indictment and other information presented in court:

Brewster, 46, of Huntsville, Alabama; Cash, 79, of Rome; and Barton, 63, of Menlo, are charged with bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud and making false statements in a loan application.

The conspiracy began with a fraudulent loan obtained by Barton through the bank, prosecutors said.

The loan application, with Cash’s assistance, was funneled through Brewster, who was a loan officer at the bank at the time.

Using his position at the bank, Brewster pushed the loan application through for approval despite the loan application containing false information.

Barton claimed in her loan application that she was seeking to purchase property; instead, the money was pocketed by Barton and Cash. Cash then used some of the money to pay other loan payments and expenses from a land development business.

“Treasury invested TARP funds in banks to bring stability, not fund fraudulent bank loans,” said Christy Goldsmith Romero, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. “Today’s indictment is another example of accountability for a banker alleged to have committed fraud.”