| For immediate release |
|
The Federal Reserve Board today announced that a public administrative hearing will commence on April 2, 2001, in connection with an enforcement action against Oren L. Benton, the former sole shareholder and a director of The Professional Bank, a former state member bank, and Edward D. Scott, a former executive vice president and director of the bank. The hearing will be held before an Administrative Law Judge to determine whether Messrs. Benton and Scott should be permanently barred from the banking industry and whether the Board should assess a fine of $1.25 million against Mr. Benton and a fine of $75,000 against Mr. Scott. A copy of the Board's combined Notice of Intent to Prohibit and Notice of Assessment of Civil Money Penalties is attached. The Notice alleges that Messrs. Benton and Scott violated laws and regulations, and engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices and breached their fiduciary duty to the bank when they caused the bank to violate Section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act and the Board's Regulation O. The administrative hearing will commence at 10:00 a.m. on April 2, 2001, at the following location:
U.S. Tax Court |