THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200505
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Signet Banking Corp. apparently lost $81 million in a fraud scheme that involved other banking companies and totaled $173 million, the company and federal investigators said Tuesday.
The Richmond-based banking company said it made the loans to two people who used forged documents and posed as employees of ``a Fortune 100 corporation, well known to Signet'' to obtain the money.
FBI agents arrested a man and a woman in the New York City area on bank fraud charges Tuesday in connection with the case, said Robert W. Jaspen, an assistant U.S. Attorney in Richmond.
Edward J. Reiners and Judy Rose Bachiman could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine if they are convicted of the charges, Jaspen said.
Signet was willing to participate in only $81 million worth of loans and offered other financial institutions the opportunity to pick up the remaining $92 million.
Teri Schrettenbrunner, a Signet spokeswoman, refused to identify the other banks or say how many other banks were involved.
The transactions are structured as loans to finance computer-equipment leases, Signet said. The identity of the company which was the purported lessee was not disclosed.
Signet said in a news release it is ``assessing the potential for loss under its $81 million exposure.''
Signet is an $11 billion banking company with offices in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. by CNB