Feds take action against third former Silver State Bank exec

Regulators on Friday disclosed an enforcement action against a third former executive at the failed Silver State Bank of Henderson.

Gary A. Gardner has agreed to never again serve as a bank officer and to pay a $1,000 fine to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The agreement settles an investigation by the FDIC into the FDIC’s suspicions that while at Silver State, Gardner "engaged or participated in violations of law or regulations, unsafe or unsound banking practices and/or breaches of fiduciary duty."

The FDIC, in the settlement agreement, said it had reason to believe that Gardner’s conduct "involved personal dishonesty and/or continuing disregard for the safety or soundness of the bank" and that his actions resulted in losses to the bank.

The FDIC settlement document didn’t go into detail about why it took action against Gardner.

Requests for comment were placed with the FDIC and Gardner. Online profiles indicate Gardner was a senior vice president in the real estate division at Silver State.

Silver State was known for making risky loans during the economic boom in the commercial real estate sector — a sector that nearly collapsed in Southern Nevada during the recession. The bank failed in September 2008 because of continuing losses that eroded its capital cushion.

The bank, with 17 branches in Nevada and Arizona, had loans and other assets of $1.887 billion. Its failure was expected to cost the FDIC deposit insurance fund up to $550 million.

The FDIC, which took over the bank, later said unsafe lending practices contributed to its losses and so far three of its former executives have been hit with enforcement actions.

The other two publicly targeted by the FDIC so far are Douglas E. French, who agreed to pay a $35,000 fine, and Steven D. Haynes, whose case is still open.

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