BANKING & FINANCE - Aug. 26, 1994

Robert Dupre Convicted of Fraud: The Newport Beach businessman was found guilty of charges resulting from a three-year federal investigation into the 1991 failure of Oak Tree Savings Bank, Louisiana’s largest thrift. Dupre and Houston lawyer W. Harold Sellers were convicted on 14 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering on Aug. 19 in federal court in New Orleans. Before their trial, San Juan Capistrano businessman Michael Barrack had pleaded guilty to conspiracy after a federal probe of a $69-million loan Oak Tree made to La Jolla Pacific Equities Inc., a company operated by Dupre, Sellers and Barrack. The jurors determined that Dupre and Sellers should forfeit $7 million in assets, the amount they allegedly took from the savings and loan. The three men also face prison terms and fines. They are to be sentenced Nov. 16.