Feds shut Naples-based Orion Bank

Regulators shut down Naples-based Orion Bank on Friday and dealt most of its deposits and assets to a Louisiana bank.

[jerry]

about time

[DON]

LOOKS LIKE JERRY MIGHT BE HEADED FOR JAIL-HE SHOULD CUT DEAL WITH FEDS BEFORE THE LAWYER THAT ADVISED HIM FLIPS ON HIM

[Paul]

These guys have done alot more than what has been reported ,what till the other shoe drops

[banker2]

All of these 'good ole boy bankers' are essentially cut from the same cloth- many came from 'city-president' jobs at places like the old First Union, SOUTHTRUST, Nationsbank, etc. Did you ever notice how many new startups happened in SW FL and especially in SRQ ?? they had one goal- to fatten up the balance sheet and re-sell the bank at a stupid valuation of 4 to 5 times BOOK, then all the execs, and stock holders go home as multi-millionaires, with little effort, other than selling a 'pig in a poke'!

More crap is to hit the fan ! the FBI is all over this one and others ! all these 'bankers' hire their former assoicates and continue to do the same ole illicit stuff- not only on residential loans but the BIG deal is on commercial property !...and even SBA 7a loans

All these other banks, like Landmark, Bank of Commerce, and a few others, same guys who knew each other at places like the former SOUTHTRUST

They loved to live 'large' and be 'visible' in SRQ society- paying themselves big big money, which is fine, but their business practices were less than transparent, and in some cases, CRIMINAL.

Century Bank, for example, started operating essentially as a mortgage securitization facility about 16 years ago- hardly as a commerical bank or a thrift ! Ask the good ole boy Jim Wade who used to be president, who later got run off

I think they need to talk to Tom Quale, and good ole boy Charlie Murphy for additional 'insight'

(btw Quale's bank just got 'robbed' on
Monday...maybe someone is pissed at LandMark..lol)

maybe Jody Hudgins too ? he seems to 'admire'
good ole Jerry Williams of Orion a bit too much

the smart one was Sarasota Bank ..lol...already SOLD ! you go girl !

MORE to come..believe ME !!!!!

[crooks]

A great READ about Jerry J. Williams, the President who got fired can be found

on "biz941", just Google his name, and biz941

the comments in the interview done with him are interestingly prophetic it seems !

I guess he might want to sell the "BIG BLACK BMW"

and I bet the new owner or the FDIC made the bank

sell the friggen PRIVATE PLANE he was using to fly
all around Florida too..

His buddies are real pieces of work too.

It's quite funny that the writer of the article labeled their associations as "cult-like"...LOL

but DO READ the interview with that crook and ego-maniac !!

he's toast

[orionvictim1]

Orion Bank was an "criminal organization". Several layers of their top management should do long hard time in proson. They pulled every kind of fraudulent scam on the menu. Their lawyer, primarily one lwyer, should be in prison with them.

[myMy]

whoa, old Jerry has one helluva house in Naples !

that thing is about 4 million at least

do Google it- nice aerial shot !

I know CEOs of huge profitable corps that don't live THIS LARGE !

I think Jerry has a lot of company and probable proteges in the community banking ranks in and around Sarasota, Port Charlotte, Manatee etc

I think the feds might want to take a CLOSE look at some of his banking buddies and fellow CEOs, EVPs, closing law firms, and assorted community shakers and movers right here in SRQ

Jerry's not the only one ! he was the exalted Pied Piper and CEO held up as a model, and several others have engaged or are engaging in similar conduct !

[jailTYME]

DON wrote:

LOOKS LIKE JERRY MIGHT BE HEADED FOR JAIL-HE SHOULD CUT DEAL WITH FEDS BEFORE THE LAWYER THAT ADVISED HIM FLIPS ON HIM

Jerry hasn't done so badly:

Orion Bank

■ Williams, 49, Orion’s former CEO and board chairman, lives with his wife of 10 years, Heather Lyn, 39, in a $4.1 million home on Canna Way in Grey Oaks, a luxury gated community in Naples.

The couple also own a $3.35 million home in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Six Mile, S.C., at The Residences at Keowee Springs Lodge and Spa, which is billed as the nation’s first luxury family wellness development.

It’s located in a 2,600-acre gated community on Lake Keowee.

Pickens County land records show they purchased the home in April 2008 using a $2 million loan from JP Morgan Chase Bank.

Before the Williamses moved to Grey Oaks, they sold their home on Gordon Drive in Aqualane Shores in Naples to Dave Wannstedt, a former coach of the Miami Dolphins and head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh. Wannstedt, an Orion minority shareholder and close friend of Williams, purchased it for $2 million with his wife, Janet, with a $1.5 million loan from Orion they paid off in May.

Williams also owns dozens of businesses. Among them is Handsome Harry’s Third Street Bistro in Naples, which he founded in November 2005 under the name Ww Handsome Harry’s of Naples LLC.

The majority of the limited liability companies he incorporated with other bank officers, including Carla Pollard, the vice president and chief financial officer, were companies set up for the sole purpose of selling foreclosed-on mortgages and were dissolved once a property was sold.

It’s a concept being tested by the FDIC as part of a pilot program.

In addition to Orion Bancorp Inc., the three dozen corporations filed under Williams’ name include: Ww Capital Group, Laguna Vista LLC, OB Sunrise LLC, OB Naples Inc., OB Marathon and OB Marco Isle. All list officers of Orion Bank and the bank’s address. And others, including Tamiami Pilot Services, FB Air Holdings and Fruitville Acquisition LLC, have been dissolved.

■ Pollard, 44, who was listed as vice president and chief financial officer, is a CPA who lives on Lakemont Drive in Pelican Landing in Bonita Springs, a home she purchased for $775,000 in July 2006 using a $620,000 Orion Bank loan. She sold her home on Puma Trail in Estero’s Wildcat Run for $815,000.

She owns a 2004 Mercedes Benz SL 500 sports car, a 2005 Lincoln Navigator SUV, and a 26-foot SeaRay pleasure boat.

Pollard is listed as a manager of the many limited liability corporations that Williams set up for the bank’s bad debt.

[myMY]

geez ! lol this guy Jerry J. WIlliams

owns almost 8 MILLION DOLLARS of HOUSES ?? on

a realtively small Community Bank CEO's compensation ??

Now I don't know what his compensation WAS, but something is WHACKED OUT here

ya think ????????

something stinks

[planner]

now things are clearer ! This Carla is the same Carla H, Pollard, the same bozette EVP at the old Union Bank (aka UB Financial) of FLorida who sold their crappy bank to COLONIAL BANK of ALABAMA who is ALSO PUT OUT OF BUSINESS by the feds just a few weeks ago !!!!!!!!! ha ha !

and she was also an exec with the defeunct Republic Security Bank in WPB !

this story gets more interesting all the time

[John]

Side note as a orion Business customer. I have never seen a bank use one companies financials to boost anothers ratings which was apparently done all the time bay this bank. I was questioned by the FBI before the closing and it appears this is what it had done to me and my company to secure loans from other financial institutions

anyways check this out Sarasota has a social Networking Site http://tellsrq.com

The more that join maybe it will be safer than craigslist who knows

[macie]

I maybe Quale might be next at the failing

Landmark Bank piece of crap

all these guys were doing the same things

I see AmTrust on the east coast bit it as well

and another east coast bank as well yesterday

[ORANGE]

another story in the herald today about fancy bookeeping with another good ole boy banker at bank of commerce