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Bank of Saipan settles Texas case
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Posted on Apr 07 2005
After presenting testimony for two days to a jury in Abilene, Texas, the Bank of Saipan reached a settlement agreement with the defendant, CNG Financial, Inc. late on Tuesday, April 5.
The settlement is subject to a confidentiality provision.
Jon “JB” Bargfrede, the president and chief executive officer of the bank, said that “the matter was resolved on terms satisfactory to the parties.”
The case arose out of the alleged theft by Michael Wilson of money from the Bank of Saipan in early 2002. The bank alleged that some of the money stolen by Wilson ended up with CNG Financial and the bank sued to recover that money.
Earlier reports indicated that CNG Financial and several other U.S. companies originally sued Bank of Saipan.
In filing an answer and counterclaim, however, the bank’s attorneys incorporated a third-party compliant to run after CNG Financial and the other companies for the $5-million fraudulent loans released to Wilson’s Sweven Systems LLC, a Texas-based firm.
Some $3.555 million of the monies reportedly ended up in the hands of CNG Financial and the Nevada-based firm Rationale Inc. Another $1 million went to FFS Transaction Corp., LLC, a Texas firm that was acquired by Rationale and CNG Financial.
The fraud allegedly committed against BoS involved multifarious business transactions that ultimately led to the release of money by the bank.
Bert Douglas Montgomery and DuSean Berkich caused BoS to wire $4.5 million to Michael Wilson’s Sweven firm on January 11,2002. The following Monday-January 14-Sweven then wired close to $1 million to CNG and over $2.6 million to Rationale, in connection with business transactions pertaining to the acquisition of holding firms.
