NATION : Ex-Chief of Texas S&L; Indicted
Former Sunbelt Savings Assn. President Edwin T. McBirney III has been indicted on charges of defrauding the government in connection with a $700-million real estate scheme, the FBI announced today.
His indictment comes one month after the indictment of Donald R. Dixon, who along with other former high-profile thrift executives has been much sought after by regulators cleaning up after the failures of savings and loans.
McBirney acquired Sunbelt Savings in 1982 with five associates. The thrift engaged in high-risk loans that were either unsecured or inadequately secured by commercial real estate and land, according to government documents.
McBirney, under pressure from government regulators, resigned as chairman in 1986.
In August, 1988, Sunbelt and seven other insolvent thrifts were consolidated and put under the management of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp.
The government spent at least $2.5 billion in that bailout. It was part of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board’s Southwest Plan to consolidate and recapitalize ailing thrifts in the region.
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