Former Cecil Bank President Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Stemming From Straw Purchase Of Home
RISING SUN, Md. (WJZ) -- The former president and CEO of Cecil Bank pleaded guilty Friday to multiple federal charges stemming from a straw purchase of a home the bank had foreclosed on, the justice department said.
Mary Beyer Halsey, 59, of Rising Sun, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, receipt of a bribe by a bank official and false statement in bank records.
According to the justice department, Halsey agreed to give a real estate development company a $500,000 line of credit from the bank in 2012 if one of its employees, 36-year-old Daniel Whitehurst of Bel Air, would purchase a foreclosed home for her. She and the bank later approved a $650,000 line of credit for Whitehurst and a separate $500,000 line of credit for his business partner.
Later that year, Whitehurst closed on the home for $150,000, around half of the home's assessed value of $295,000. The bank lost around $145,000 in the deal, officials said.
Halsey faces up to 30 years in prison for each charge when she's sentenced in November.
Whitehurst pleaded guilty to a federal mail fraud charge in 2018; sentencing in his case hasn't been set. He faces up to 30 years in prison.