Bribery and Corruption Casebook: The View from Under the Table

CHAPTER 14

Brazen Bank Manager

ANTONIO IVAN S. AGUIRRE

Helen Van Wyke was assistant vice president and branch manager of Nasdall Bank’s East Coast Center Branch. She was an M.B.A. graduate from a top university in her home state and an excellent student during her university days. She prided herself on being a respected community figure, which earned her many customers at Nasdall and the reputation of being a “banker’s banker.” She was married to Troy Van Wyke, a well-known local businessman engaged in the distribution of consumer goods. Her three daughters were excellent students, all attending Helen’s alma mater and set to follow in their mom’s high-profile footsteps. Her work ethic was incomparable. Gaining approving nods from her boss at company headquarters, she became the model for what a Nasdall Bank manager should be. She was extremely competitive among the rival local banks and earned the title of “Bank Manager of the Year” for five consecutive years. However, she had a darker side and was manipulative of her peers, subordinates and clients. She also loved the high-finance lifestyle, and it was this love that led her down the road of perdition and corruption.

Helen committed the corrupt practice of abstracting cash from depositors’ accounts and bribing other branch employees to remain quiet about it by giving them a percentage of the looted funds. Furthermore, she falsified documents for a friend who could not qualify for loan accommodations otherwise, and he paid her ...