Thrift Regulators Seize Delta Bank : * Takeover: Four directors are accused of ‘insider abuse’ and its president of threatening a federal examiner’s life.

Federal thrift regulators seized an apparently healthy Delta Savings Bank on Friday, charging that four directors engaged in “egregious insider abuse” and that the S&L;’s president threatened the life of a federal examiner.

The Office of Thrift Supervision, which ordered the takeover, also initiated an enforcement action that seeks to ban the directors from the industry and demands $1.5 million in restitution from them for alleged improper loans and insider transactions.

In taking over the tiny Westminster savings and loan, the OTS charged that Delta, though solvent, was operated in an unsafe and unsound manner. The thrift’s records were in such disarray, the agency said, that regulators could not verify whether the institution is financially sound.

With assets of $64 million at the end of June, the thrift had reported $321,000 in net income for the first six months and it exceeded regulatory requirements for capital, an institution’s final reserve against losses.

Typically, the OTS seizes thrifts only when they run out of capital or are close to running out. But the 1989 federal law that restructured the industry gave regulators greater powers to take over S&Ls.;

Delta is the 13th California thrift--and the fifth in Orange County--to be seized by regulators this year. It brings to 24 the number of Orange County S&Ls; taken over in the past decade.

The thrift was turned over to the federal Resolution Trust Corp. to manage in conservatorship and will reopen Monday for business as usual. The RTC will develop a coherent bookkeeping and records system, the OTS said.

RTC spokesman Kevin Shields said the S&L; recently fell just short of one of the three federal capital standards, but that its capital position was not a reason for the takeover.

Delta was a troubled institution two years ago when four Korean businessmen took control and, with other shareholders, infused $2 million in cash to revive the thrift.

The thrift appeared to enjoy modest success as it posted profits consistently and reduced the amount of bad loans on its books. It sold a nearby branch in June to a small Los Angeles bank for $300,000, ridding itself of a marginal operation and reducing its size to one office.

But behind the scenes, directors have been feuding with regulators.

The OTS charged in its enforcement action that Young Il Kim, Delta’s president, threatened the life of an examiner three times last December.

The agency also accused Kim, Chairman Yun Suk Seo and directors Michael Kim and Minh Ngoc Dang of a series of improper insider transactions, including:

* Young Kim’s recommended approval of a $100,000 unsecured loan to Seo without disclosing that the chairman owed him money. Seo used part of the proceeds to repay Kim.

* Michael Kim’s purchase of $100,000 worth of Delta common stock, using half of a $200,000 unsecured loan he had received from the S&L.; The transaction violated banking regulations.

* The board’s approval of $340,000 in loans to Dang in violation of loan limits to insiders. It later gave him a $200,000 loan on improper favorable terms with a low down payment and no loan fees.

Shields said no criminal investigation has been sought.

None of the directors could be reached Friday for comment.