Michael Justice Named President of Bancorp

Three stormy months after he was named interim president, J. Michael Justice on Friday was appointed permanent president of Crown Bancorp and its largest subsidiary, the Bank of Coronado.

Justice was also elected to the board of directors of both Crown and the bank.

“My goal,” Justice said Friday, “is to continue with what we’ve been doing . . . and return the bank to its former status.”

Since he joined the company, the bank has reduced its bad loans by about $2.3 million. Problem loans now total $4.9 million, Justice said.

Despite the reduction in bad loans, the third quarter “still won’t be profitable,” said Justice. “But the fourth quarter will show a reversal of the trend we’ve seen since earlier this year.”

Third-quarter results for the bank, which has $57.2 million in assets, will be released next week, he added.

Crown Chairman Philip Akre said the board hired Justice on a permanent basis because of his “strong sense of regulatory experience” and for reducing the number of bad loans.

Justice said Crown still “anticipates” that it will merge the bank with its other subsidiary, the Capital Bank of Carlsbad, although he was hesitant about revealing details on when the deal would be final.

“There’s been no indication that the merger will be called off,” he said. “We’re proceeding to continue with (completing the merger) in mind. But that doesn’t mean that it actually will happen.”

The merger, approved in July, was a source of tension among directors. One of the proponents, Dustin Rose, has since resigned as Crown chairman.