A ‘poster boy’ for greed
Financier jailed over role in savings and loan scandal of the 1980s
PHOENIX — Charles H. Keating Jr., the notorious financier who served prison time and was disgraced for his role in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s, has died. He was 90.
When Keating’s Phoenix-based home construction company, American Continental Corp., bought Lincoln Savings & Loan in 1984, the multimillionaire elevated its worth from $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion in a four-year period.
But his financial empire crumbled with state and federal convictions for defrauding investors. Keating allegedly bilked Lincoln customers by selling them $200 million of unsecured “junk” bonds. They became worthless when Keating’s company became bankrupt.
The thrift’s collapse cost taxpayers $2.6 billion and tarnished the reputations of five senators who became known as the “Keating Five.” One of them was Republican U.S Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and the scandal re-entered the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign.
As the public heard testimony of elderly bondholders who had lost their life savings, Keating became a posterboy for corporate greed. Keating was convicted in both state and federal court, but the convictions were thrown out and he agreed to a federal plea deal that freed him after nearly five years in prison.
Though Keating insisted he was a symbol of the common man, he was known more for an extravagant lifestyle. Keating received $19.4 million in salary, stock purchases and other compensation over five years, ending in 1988. His company provided luxuries like the use of a $5-million refurbished Florida estate. The corporation picked up the tab for lavish events like a 1986 Christmas party at which nearly $2,000 was spent on Silly String alone.
American Continental also paid to maintain three corporate jets.
As the savings and loan institution’s profits rose, the Federal Home Loan Bank in San Francisco began looking into investment activity in 1986. The examination was the beginning of numerous conflicts between Keating and federal regulators.
By April 1989, American Continental filed for bankruptcy protection — one day before federal regulators seized Lincoln for alleged bad business practice. The government claimed Keating made land swap deals to fabricate real estate profits.
Through a tax-sharing agreement, American Continental was then able to siphon off $94 million of federally insured deposits in the form of deferred taxes never actually paid to the Internal Revenue Service.
The financial fallout triggered investigations and multiple lawsuits from all sides.
The scandal also shook the political world. Five senators who received campaign donations from Keating — McCain, Democrat Alan Cranston of California, Democrat John Glenn of Ohio, Democrat Donald W. Riegel Jr. of Michigan and Democrat Dennis DeConcini of Arizona — were accused of impropriety for appealing to regulators on Keating’s behalf in 1987.
In 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee formally reprimanded Cranston for “improper and repugnant” dealings with Keating. DeConcini and Riegle received rebukes from the committee but no further punishment for creating the appearance of impropriety. Glenn and McCain were criticized less severely; the panel said they “exercised poor judgment.”
Post-prison, Keating moved into his daughter’s home in the wealthy Phoenix enclave of Paradise Valley. In 2006, he quietly began work as a business consultant in Phoenix. He is survived by wife Mary Elaine, daughter Mary, son Charles and grandson Gary Hall Jr., who was an Olympic swimming champion.