Pulaski fin'l corp hit by 'elaborate fraud' by own commercial loan customer

Pulaski Financial Corp. has uncovered an "elaborate fraud" perpetrated against the bank by one of its commercial loan customers.
The customer, who claimed to be in the business of leasing equipment, appears to have created false documents to purchase assets that didn't exist and that were the subject of fictitious leases, according to a statement from Pulaski Financial, which is the holding company for Pulaski Bank. Pulaski's exposure to the customers consisted of an outstanding loan balance of $7 million, minus $631,000 in collateral held by the bank.
Pulaski is charging off the entire amount of the unsecured exposure, resulting in an after-tax charge to earnings of $3.9 million.
As a result of the discovery of the fraud, Pulaski reported revised financial results for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morning_call/2013/11/pulaski-hit-by-elaborate-fraud.html