Arkansas banker pleads guilty to 2 fraud charges

FORT SMITH, Ark.

The U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Arkansas says an El Dorado man has pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud.

A news release from the office Tuesday said 48-year-old Mark Turner had entered the pleas before U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren.

According to the release, the charges relate to loans Turner authorized as executive vice president and senior lending Officer of Timberland Bank in El Dorado.

Information filed in court Tuesday said Turner created two companies, Richmark Services LLC and Invest Four of Arkansas LLC, and then authorized loans and lines of credit to them totaling $1.3 million without disclosing his ownership as required by banking regulations and bank policies. The filing said Turner then personally converted some of the money to his own use.

The release said Turner would be sentenced after a pre-sentence investigation. Possible sentences range up to 30 years in prison, fines of up to $1 million and restitution.