Bankers Trust Settles Criminal Charges

Bankers Trust Corp. was ordered to pay $60 million in fines in a plea deal that settled criminal charges alleging the company boosted profits by pocketing unclaimed customer accounts. The sentencing by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in New York came less than two weeks after three former bank executives were indicted on charges they converted $15.5 million in unclaimed customer funds and credits into bank profits. The scheme allegedly took place between 1989 and 1996. Lawyers for Bankers Trust had entered a guilty plea on behalf of the company to charges that it made false entries in bank books and records to create the profits. Germany’s Deutsche Bank, which acquired Bankers Trust in June, said it was “pleased to have these proceedings behind us.” Bankers Trust has also returned nearly all of the $19.1 million unlawfully recorded as the bank’s income, prosecutors said.