Bullion v. Federal Deposit Insurance

881 F.2d 1368, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 13240
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 5, 1989
DocketNos. 88-4390, 88-4391 and 88-4409
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 881 F.2d 1368 (Bullion v. Federal Deposit Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bullion v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 881 F.2d 1368, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 13240 (5th Cir. 1989).

Opinion

JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

The petitioners Ronald L. Bullion, A. Freeman Edgerton, Anthony V. Noto, Joseph A. Dazzio, and Carol L. Harelson appeal the assessment of civil penalties against them for violation of § 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. § 375b, and its implementing regulations, 12 C.F.R. § 215.4(a) and (c). We uphold the determination of violations by the Board of Examiners of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. There is substantial evidence in the record to support its conclusion. We further uphold the penalties awarded under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1828(j)(4)(A) and (B), except as to Dazzio. We reverse as to him and remand for reconsideration of an appropriate penalty-

I. Facts

Dr. Joseph Dazzio was chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company of Baton Rouge (the “Bank”). Ronald Bullion, A. Freeman Edgerton, Anthony Noto, and Carol Harelson were officers.

Dazzio sought $1.5 million in financing from the Bank for the construction, renovation, and operation of the Sherwood Meadows Townhouses, owned by a limited partnership, Sherwood Meadows Properties, Ltd. Dazzio was the general partner and had exclusive control of this partnership.

To obtain financing, a transaction was structured under which low interest, multifamily housing revenue bonds in the amount of $1.5 million were issued by the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. Interest on the bonds was set at 75% of Chase Manhattan Prime with a 30-year amortization, callable after ten years. The Sherwood Meadows partnership gave a $1.5 million promissory note and an assignment of rents to the issuer. Security for the issuers’ loan consisted of a first mortgage on the townhouses, $174,000 cash in escrow, and a $100,000 certificate of deposit. Petitioner Dazzio also gave his personal guaranty for the indebtedness.

The Bank was the sole purchaser of the bond issue. In effect, the Bank loaned the money to Dazzio for this business endeav- or, which is the way the transaction was treated at all times by the Bank. In reaching the decision to purchase the bonds, Directors Bullion, Noto, Edgerton, and Harelson relied on the oral report of Jimmy Davis, one of the Bank’s lending officers, and a loan application that was prepared by him. Before the loan was actually funded on November 22, 1985, the file on this purchase included an appraisal of the townhouses dated August 7, 1985, based on the sales price of the properties if sold as condominiums, and a financial statement of Dazzio dated October 2, 1985, which indicated that he and his wife had a net worth of $2.2 million.

On November 7, 1986, the Bank was declared insolvent, and it was closed by the Louisiana Commissioner of Financial Institutions. While it had received a clean bill of health on November 16, 1983, the last time it had been examined, the Bank’s stability had substantially declined as had the stability of many of the banks in this area of the country.

II. Prior Proceeding

Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1828(j)(4), a formal adversary enforcement proceeding was conducted against Dazzio and the directors for approving the purchase of the bonds (collectively, the “officers”). The enforcement process began on April 8, 1987, when the FDIC’s Board of Review issued a Notice of Assessment of Civil Money Penalties, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Order to Pay and Notice of Hearing. 12 U.S.C. § 1828(j)(4)(C). The notice informed the officers that the FDIC was seeking penalties in the amount of $290,000 against Dazzio, $8000 against Raymond E. Kron, Jr., and $3000 against each of the other eleven directors of the Bank.

The notice alleged violation of 12 U.S.C. § 375b, and its implementing regulations, 12 C.F.R. § 215.4(a) and (c).1 Under [1371]*1371§ 215.4(c), the FDIC Board alleged that the extension of credit to Sherwood Meadows Properties violated the Bank’s lending limit because the partnership was a business interest of Dazzio who was an “insider” under the statute. The maximum amount that should have been extended to an “insider” under the lending limit was $1,225,-000, so that the Bank had overextended by $275,000 in the purchase of the bonds.

Under § 215.4(a), the Board alleged that the loan involved more than the normal risk of repayment or other unfavorable features. Only Dazzio, Edgerton, Noto, Har-elson, and Bullion exercised their right to contest the proposed penalty assessment.

A hearing was held July 27-30, 1987, before an Administrative Law Judge. While the central facts of the loan were not contested, the officers advanced two contentions in their defense. As to the § 215.4(e) violation, they argued that Daz-zio was not an “executive officer” so that he was not properly considered an “insider” under Regulation O. As to the § 215.4(a) violation, they argued that the extension of credit did not involve more than the normal risk of repayment or other unfavorable features.

On June 8, 1987, the AU held a pretrial conference to expedite discovery. At this hearing, the lead counsel for the FDIC, Phillip Schwartz, agreed to produce certain memoranda, including a memorandum sent from the FDIC’s regional office in Memphis to the Washington D.C. office. On June 25, the FDIC provided the Bank officers with a two-and-one-half page memorandum, “Noto 2,” which did not contain the regional office’s recommendation and which was not signed.2

At the first day of the hearing, June 27, the officers protested not receiving Noto 2 until two days before the hearing. Schwartz explained that the FDIC had had trouble locating the document and that the FDIC had produced the entire document except for additions from Washington D.C. which could not be included because they were privileged. The officers moved for dismissal or a continuance. The AU denied the dismissal and stated that the motion for continuance would be taken under advisement. He told petitioners to reurge the motion after the FDIC rested if they needed extra time to prepare their defense because of the late compliance by the FDIC with the discovery request.

On June 28, the FDIC released the rest of Noto 2, “Noto 3.” Noto 3 was the same document as Noto 2, but it included an additional one-and-a-half pages. The excised section revealed that the regional office had recommended penalties of $25,000 against Dazzio and $1000 against the other four officers. The document was signed by Schwartz in his capacity as Senior Regional Attorney for the FDIC.3 An FDIC examiner further testified that no changes had been made to this document in Washington.

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881 F.2d 1368, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 13240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bullion-v-federal-deposit-insurance-ca5-1989.