The CEO of a Chicago-based bank has been indicted by a federal grand jury for seeking a senior position in the Trump administration in exchange for the approval of $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Stephen Calk, the head of Federal Savings Bank, was charged with one count of financial institution bribery for his role in the scheme and faces up to 30 years in prison. Calk, 45, is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.
According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, Calk used his position as the head of Federal Savings Bank to issue the $16 million in loans for two properties Manafort owned. Calk was aware of “significant red flags” regarding Manafort’s ability to repay the loans, federal prosecutors said, and Manafort’s debt was the single largest lending relationship at Federal Savings Bank.
Details of Calk’s involvement in the deals with Manafort were revealed last summer when Manafort was on trial in federal court for charges of bank and tax fraud. The trial was the first stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Manafort first sought a $9.5 million loan from Federal Savings Bank, and days after it was conditionally approved by the bank’s credit committee in summer 2016, Manafort tapped Calk for a position on the Trump campaign’s economic advisory committee, according to the indictment.
While the loan was pending approval, Calk allegedly gave Manafort a list of positions he wanted in the Trump administration, which included secretary of Treasury, deputy secretary of Treasury, secretary of commerce, secretary of defense, and 19 ambassadorships. Calk also lobbied Manafort for the position of secretary of the army.
After Manafort’s $9.5 million loan closed, Calk then pushed Federal Savings Bank to extend $6.5 million in loans to Manafort for a property he owned in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors said. While approval of the $6.5 million in loans was pending, Manafort recommended Calk for secretary of the army.
Manafort allegedly contacted a representative of the Trump transition team’s executive committee and asked that person, who is not named in the indictment, to arrange an interview of Calk for army secretary. The representative, however, said Calk would be interviewed for undersecretary of the army instead.
Manafort’s $6.5 million in loans was approved in early January 2017, after which Calk interviewed for the army undersecretary role, according to the indictment. He ultimately did not get the job.
A former senior vice president at Federal Savings Bank testified that Calk expedited approval of the loans despite concerns raised by others at the bank.
Manafort was found guilty on eight counts, including tax fraud and defrauding banks to secure millions of dollars in loans. The jury deadlocked, however, on charges related to Manafort’s loans from Federal Savings Bank.
