Nebraska man pleads guilty to $800,000 fraud scheme that caused bank failure

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A former central Nebraska banker has been convicted of fraud more than four years after his bank failed.

Jack Poulsen, 71, of Ericson pleaded guilty to bank fraud Thursday in federal court.

He was the president of Ericson State Bank, a small bank with one location in Ericson, a village of 90 people in Wheeler County.

Starting in 2012, the bank began lending to someone related to Poulsen.

That person and his businesses took out multiple loans and opened several accounts. Under bank rules, Poulsen could not be the loan officer for those agreements.

But by June 2015, he had started interfering in those loans and accounts, authorities said.

Poulsen advanced more money on the loans than had been approved, and he sometimes used the money to cover overdrafts on his relative’s checking accounts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he also altered information in the bank’s computer system to hide the fact that some of the loans were past due.

The balance on one of the loans grew to $1.6 million above the approved amount, according to authorities.

Poulsen was removed from his position in September 2019. Ericson State Bank went under five months later.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the failure stemmed from a loss of more than $800,000 in Poulsen’s scheme.

Poulsen will be sentenced Aug. 1. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.