Former Anchor Bank executive indicted on federal fraud charges

A former long-time executive with Anchor Bank was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for allegedly lying in order to defraud an Anchor subsidiary involved in a Texas industrial park development.

David Weimert, 63, of Madison, who was a senior vice-president in lending administration at Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin and president of Investment Directions Inc., an Anchor BanCorp subsidiary, allegedly devised and took part in a scheme to defraud IDI, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison.

The grand jury indicted Weimert on six counts of wire fraud, which each carry up to 30 years in prison.

Weimert worked at Anchor from 1991 to 2009. Anchor spokeswoman Jennifer Ranville said that Anchor has cooperated with law enforcement on the matter and will continue to do so.

According to the U.S. Attorney, the indictment alleges that between December 2008 and March 2009, Weimert made material misrepresentations and omissions in order to get an ownership interest in Chandler Creek, a joint venture partnership formed to develop an industrial park in Round Rock, Texas, and to get a 4 percent commission fee as part of the sale of Chandler Creek.

According to the indictment, Weimert falsely told his superiors that the Burke Group, a commercial real estate developer in Costa Mesa, Calif., would buy IDI's share of Chandler Creek, contingent on Weimert purchasing a minority interest of Chandler Creek as part of the deal. In fact, it was Weimert who wanted the minority interest for himself, and not the Burke Group, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that as a result of Weimert's actions, IDI's board of directors accepted the Burke Group's offer to buy Chandler Creek. Weimert received a 4.785 percent ownership interest as part of the deal and a 4 percent commission fee, which totaled $311,680, according to the indictment.