Real estate developers Miroslaw Krejza and Marek Matczuk have been found guilty by a federal jury in Chicago for their participation in a conspiracy to embezzle millions from the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings located in Chicago.
The bank, located in the Bridgeport area of Chicago, was declared insolvent in 2017 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency due to a minimum of $66 million in nonperforming loans. For over a decade, Krejza and Matczuk had partaken actively in a conspiracy embezzled millions in bank funds. The stolen money was distributed as supposed real estate development loans to the defendants and others with no repayment required - a condition readily embraced by the conspirators.
65-year-old Krejza, resident of Chicago, and 60-year-old Matczuk from Park Ridge, Illinois were convicted of conspiracy to embezzle and falsify banking records, and are found to be complicit in the aiding of embezzlement by bank staffers on Friday. The jury returned their verdict after a three week trial in a Chicago federal court. As of yet, the date for the sentencing by U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall has not been determined.
The condemnations were made public by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General, Vincent R. Zehme, among other notable figureheads. The U.S. Trustee Program and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol extended their valuable collaboration to facilitate the federal investigation.
After the collapse of Washington Federal, 16 defendants including the CFO, Treasurer, and other senior bank employees were charged with conspiracy to embezzle at least $31 million in bank funds. Other than Krejza and Matczuk, two other defendants were found guilty according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Ten pleaded guilty and two accepted deferred prosecution agreements.
With little to no documentation, a considerable portion of the embezzled money was transferred to Chicago attorney Robert M. Kowalski and other individuals. A jury earlier this year convicted Robert Kowalski on charges of bankruptcy fraud, bank embezzlement, and making false statements. His sentencing is scheduled for January 23, 2024. His sister, Jan R. Kowalski, also a lawyer, earlier pleaded guilty and received over three years of imprisonment for enabling her brother to pocket over $357,000 from creditors and the bankruptcy case trustee.
In a recent development, apologies were plead by three former Board of Directors members of Washington Federal for conspiring to falsify bank records in order to deceive the OCC. William M. Mahon, George F. Kozdemba, and Janice M. Weston are slated for sentencing this December.
Patrick D. Thompson, a Chicago lawyer, was convicted in the past year of making false statements to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. with regards to the sum of money he had obtained from the bank via an alleged loan and other unsecured payments. In addition to this, Thompson was also convicted for filling tax returns in which he incorrectly deducted interest not actually paid out to Washington Federal.
