A federal jury has found Ashton Ryan Jr., the former president and CEO of the failed First NBC Bank in New Orleans, guilty on dozens of fraud and conspiracy charges connected to the company’s failure in 2017.
The verdict followed a monthlong trial in New Orleans that walked jurors through bank records showing Ryan approved multiple seven-figure loans to borrowers who could not repay.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in court documents and public statements that Ryan and other former executives then made new loans to these same borrowers and used the proceeds to pay off existing loans. This created a cycle that played out over years, from 2006 to 2017, defrauding the bank and its shareholders, according to prosecutors.
