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Revision as of 09:02, 10 May 2009 by PigFlu Oink (talk | contribs) ( Spelling Fix transfered->transferred)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)John Rusnak was a former currency trader at Allfirst bank, then part of AIB Group, in Baltimore, MD, United States. On January 17, 2003 he was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for hiding US$691 million in losses at the bank, after bad bets snowballed in one of the largest ever cases of bank fraud. He was transferred from prison to a halfway house in June, 2008, to home confinement in September, 2008, and ultimately released from home confinement on January 5, 2009, serving just under 6 years.
Rusnak could have faced up to 30 years in prison. The original 7 1/2 year sentence was part of a plea bargain with US prosecutors. He was released early having earned good-behavior credits and completing a drug treatment program. Upon his release, he started paying US$1,000 a month for the five years of his probation.
Rusnak will remain on the hook for the full $691 million he lost, but prosecutors said the amount he pays back will depend on how much money he is able to make after leaving prison.
Following the scandal AIB sold Allfirst to M&T Bank of Buffalo, New York in July, 2003. AIB retained 23% of M&T stock. Over 1,100 Allfirst employees lost their jobs in the sale .
References
Panic At The Bank is a book written by Siobhán Creaton and Conor O'Clery, both journalists who followed the story for the Irish newspaper The Irish Times, that details the events which lead up to the fraud and how it was carried out and hidden from the bank's authorities. It is published by Gill and Macmillan.
See also
External links
- Allied Irish Banks case study at ERisk.com
- Panic At The Bank A book review of Panic At The Bank.
- AIB Group The owner of Allfirst bank at the time of the fraud.
- Indictment document filled with the District Court of Maryland
- Baltimore Sun coverage of Rusnak's release