Former Wilmington Trust Officer Charged with Bank Fraud, Bribery, and Money Laundering

Brian D. Bailey, a former officer for the Wilmington Trust Corporation, has been charged in a 14 count indictment with nine counts of bank fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank bribery, corruptly receiving a gift for procuring a loan, corruptly providing a gift with intent to influence a bank employee, and money laundering.

Prosecutors assert that Bailey, former head of commercial real estate and Delaware market manager at Wilmington Trust, engaged in a 12-year-long lending relationship with James A. Ladio, former chief lending officer at Artisans’ Bank and former chief executive officer of MidCoast Community Bank, that involved bank fraud, bribery, and money laundering. According to the indictment, Bailey and Ladio approved approximately 23 loans and loan modifications to each other through their respective positions at Wilmington Trust, Artisans, and MidCoast. The indictment further alleged that the aggregate amount of all the loan facilities was in excess of $1.5 million.

“Brian Bailey is the second officer charged with bank fraud conspiracy at Wilmington Trust, a TARP bank that ended up being acquired by another TARP bank,” said Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP). “Bailey is charged with a 12-year bank fraud conspiracy involving James Ladio, former president and CEO of MidCoast Community Bank, who pleaded guilty in this investigation to bank fraud involving MidCoast. Bailey stands accused of approving Wilmington Trust loans to Ladio outside of the normal process and lying to the bank that interest-only loans to Ladio were related to real estate when he knew Ladio was using the money for personal purposes. Bailey is also charged with receiving kickbacks on bank loans to Ladio. During a two month period, Bailey obtained a $107,000 loan from Ladio’s bank (Artisans) to buy a Ford F-150 pickup, an E-Class Mercedes Benz, and a Porsche sports car. Bailey later obtained other loans from Ladio’s bank (MidCoast) to buy a boat and to pay off more than $45,000 in credit card debt. SIGTARP and our law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate allegations of fraud by officers of TARP banks, and perpetrators will be held accountable for their crimes.”

In December 2013, Ladio pleaded guilty to a four-count felony Information charging him with bank fraud and money laundering. Previously, Joseph Terranova, former vice president and division manager of the Delaware commercial real estate division at Wilmington Trust, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Contact the author at smeyerow@optonline.net. 

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