John Rusnak is a former currency trader at Allfirst bank, then part of AIB Group, in

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. He is known for committing one of the largest ever cases of

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

, where he lost his company US$691 million after a series of bad bets.

Allfirst scandal

On January 17, 2003 Rusnak was sentenced to years in prison for hiding US$691 million in losses at the bank in 2002, after bad bets snowballed in one of the largest ever cases of

. 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 less than 6 years. Since his return to society, Rusnak has become an advocate for second chances for men coming home from incarceration and for those in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Rusnak currently serves as the Executive Director of unCUFFED ministries working with juveniles who are incarcerated in adult detention facilities. Rusnak could have faced up to 30 years in prison. The original year sentence was part of a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

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 M&T Bank Corporation (Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company) is an American bank holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. It operates 950+ branches in 12 states and Washington D.C. across the Eastern United States, from Maine to Vi ...

of Buffalo, New York, in July 2003. AIB retained 23% of M&T stock. Although the news media blamed the scandal, the merger talks actually began prior to the revelation of the losses. In the banking environment at that time the merger was inevitable. Over 1,100 Allfirst employees lost their jobs in the sale.

References

External links

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 filed with the District Court of Maryland https://web.archive.org/web/20040714210843/http://www.justice.gov/dag/cftf/chargingdocs/allfirst.pdf

Baltimore Sun story of Rusnak

Rusnak's Speech at the CBMC

NPR Morning Edition Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusnak, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Allied Irish Banks American financial businesspeople American bankers Rogue traders American people convicted of fraud American businesspeople convicted of crimes Bucknell University alumni

Allfirst scandal

See also

References

Further reading

External links