VP of failed bank in Ellijay convicted of bank fraud

GAINESVILLE - The Vice President of a failed bank has been convicted by a federal jury of carrying out a scheme to defraud the Appalachian Community Bank.<br /> <br /> William R. "Rusty" Beamon Jr. was convicted Friday on five counts of bank fraud.<br /> <br /> The 54-year-old was in charge of the Ellijay bank's foreclosure liquidation department. In 2009, he represented to a real estate agent that he owned a home in Cumming. That home was actually owned by the bank as part of its foreclosure inventory. <br /> <br /> Beamon's agent found someone to lease the property and negotiated the lease on Beamon's behalf. He then deposited into his personal bank account more than $20,000 in rent and security deposits that he obtained by leasing the bank's property as if it were his own.<br /> <br /> Beamon also caused Appalachian to sell bank-owned properties to his wife and to a shell company that he owned-all at prices that were substantially below what other buyers were ready, willing, and able to pay the bank. <br /> <br /> "Bank fraud is a critical problem throughout the United States, but it has hit Georgia especially hard," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. "Georgia leads the nation in bank failures since 2008, with 88 banks failing-including Appalachian Community Bank, the bank this defendant defrauded. These failures have significantly affected the economy, making these cases important to safeguard the nation's financial health." <br /> United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said Beamon was Vice President of Appalachian Community Bank and due to its poor financial condition, Appalachian was forced to close on March 19, 2010.<br /> <br /> "Bank fraud comes in many forms but when it comes in the form of the bank's own vice president, it becomes all the more intolerable. Mr. Beamon, as a banking executive, should have protected his bank and its assets from fraud but instead he saw an opportunity to enrich his own bank account. The federal sentencing handed down to Mr. Beamon will be not only the closing note to one man's banking career but also to the bank that he caused to fail," said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.<br /> <br /> Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.<br />