Former banker pleads guilty to embezzlement in Louisiana

A former president of Farmer's State Bank has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 in bank funds from July 1998 through January 2004.




The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/onq2LL ) Steve J. Broussard entered a guilty plea in federal court Monday to one count of misapplication by a bank employee and officer, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to 30 years.



Broussard had resigned from the Church Point bank about four years before he was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2008 on 14 counts of misapplication by a bank employee and officer in excess of $1,000 and eight counts for less than $1,000.



According to the factual basis for his guilty plea, Broussard admitted to embezzling and willfully misapplying $119,981 in funds, credits and money, of which $104,349 is owed in restitution to the bank.



Among the ways the money was spent:



— Broussard hired three men as contract laborers for the bank and then directed them to spend about 30 percent of their time working on his personal property, although they were being paid by the bank, the filing says.



From 1998 through 2004, Elroy Meche, Felton James Bellard and Joseph Charlot were paid $231,750, of which $69,254 went toward work performed on Broussard's property, the filing says.



—Between June 2002 and September 2004, Broussard fraudulently received $38,930 in cash advances from ATMs using his bank-issued credit card and a bank-issued card linked to an ATM testing account at the bank, the filing says.



Of that, $24,705 has not been repaid to the bank, the filing says.



—From September 1998 through December 2003, Broussard had the bank purchase $13,149 in cooking supplies for the Circle S Cooking Team, one of his private activities.



Only about 50 percent of the team's activities served a legitimate bank purpose, the filing says.



—Between November 2002 and December 2002, Broussard directed the bank to give out a loan to newly elected Church Point City Councilman Melckisadech Green in order to gain influence on the city council, the filing says.



Green did not qualify for the loan, which ultimately cost the bank $1,294 when Green defaulted and failed to repay it, the filing says.



—Between January 1999 and July 2004, Broussard charged $1,715 to his bank-issued credit card for unauthorized personal items at Wal-Mart, the filing says.



Broussard will be sentenced at a later date.