The U.S. Treasury Department purchased 344,577 shares of stock in One Bank & Trust at a sale conducted in Washington on Monday, the bank's CEO announced.
Jerry Pavlas, the CEO, gave no details of the sale in a release issued Monday afternoon, and a spokesman for the bank's federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, was not immediately available.
As Arkansas Business reported last week, the Treasury had a potential credit bid of up to $47.9 million, which was the balance of a triple-damages judgement tied to a TARP funding fraud claim. The shares represent a 99 percent stake in the bank, which brands itself as Onebanc, where equity capital declined from $12 million as of Dec. 31 to $10.4 million on March 31.
Assets stood at $298.5 million at the end of the first quarter.
"The sale is another positive development for the Bank and no customers or vendors should be concerned by this latest step in the legal process," Pavlas said in a news release. "Nothing about the sale of this stock affects Onebanc's daily operations, employment or services to our customers or community.
"The sale was conducted in full cooperation with the U.S. Treasury and the Bank's regulators in order to provide absolute certainty to the Federal government's legal standing as the majority owner of the Bank. Resolving the issue of ownership released Onebanc from the burdens of the holding company liabilities and was critical to the Bank's recapitalization.
"The sale was necessary in bringing closure to the complex issues created by the fraudulent acts of former Onebanc owners, executives and senior management that were revealed during the change in management and the completion of the forensic accounting audit."