a dishonest steward

Chico noticed this article in the Chicago Tribune. It sounds oddly familiar...

'Generous' banker gets 63 months in prison

First Security Trust & Savings Bank loan officer Jeffrey Gonsiewski, who pleaded guilty in August to one count of federal bank fraud, was sentenced to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo on Tuesday.

The U.S. Government last summer had accused the 56-year-old high school graduate of changing loan terms or arranging loans to be made in a scheme that ultimately caused the Elmwood Park-based lender, part of the Wirtz family empire, to lose more than $5.5 million.

Some monies have since been recovered, so Gonsiewski now has been ordered to pay nearly $5.2 million in restitution. On Jan. 20 he’ll report to a still-unspecified prison.

Gonsiewski had admitted that he changed the terms of at least 100 loans for more than 50 struggling borrowers to make it appear that their payments were current when in fact they were overdue. He’d change due dates to a later time period, or monthly payments to quarterly ones, or principal-and-interest payments to interest-only payments.

“As stupid as his plan can be judged, he never sought to profit from it,” Gonsiewski’s lawyer wrote, adding that he “never took one cent from anybody.”

Gonsiewski, who after spending more than 30 years at the bank now works as a caterer’s helper and a stock boy and also recently as a delivery driver, told the judge before his sentencing that he was “truly sorry.”

“I really only had good intentions,” a bearded, balding and bespecled Gonsiewski said softly. “I spent 34 years doing a job I loved.” He said he has also apologized to family and friends, particularly his wife, Beth, who was one of only a handful of people to attend the sentencing.

If Gonsiewski was indeed helping troubled bank borrowers, few if any showed up to express their appreciation during his sentencing in a U.S. District Court in Chicago. Both Jeff and Beth declined to comment afterward. Beth, with short hair and wearing a black suit and white shirt, retained her composure throughout the proceedings, as did Jeff.

Judge Bucklo seemed baffled by Gonsiewski’s behavior in light of the fact that he didn’t appear to profit personally from it. His salary at the bank was $69,000 a year; his wife has worked as a bartender and as an assitant manager at a restaurant.

"How it would be worth it," she said, "I just don't understand."