A Kansas man was sentenced to 24 years in jail after pouring $47.1 million right into a pig butchering rip-off — utilizing cash from the financial institution he was accountable for. Shan Hanes, the previous CEO of the small Heartland Tri-State Financial institution, pleaded guilty to embezzlement after routing the funds to scammers’ crypto accounts, causing the bank to collapse.
As reported by NBC News, Hanes fell for a pig butchering rip-off that had him buying crypto “to unlock the supposed returns on his investments,” which he by no means obtained.
Pig butchering scams sometimes contain a scammer discovering and contacting a sufferer by way of a messaging app, a relationship service, or a social media platform. They’ll then attempt to type a relationship — typically a romantic one — with their sufferer earlier than finally luring them into making a collection of crypto investments.
From Might to June 2023, Hanes arrange 11 wire transfers utilizing the financial institution’s stolen funds. He additionally embezzled cash from a neighborhood church, an funding membership, and his daughter’s faculty financial savings account. The Heartland Tri-State Financial institution, which was insured by the FDIC on the time, was one of many five banks to close in 2023.
“Hanes’ greed knew no bounds,” US Lawyer Kate E. Brubacher says in an announcement. “He trespassed his skilled obligations, his private relationships, and federal regulation. Not solely did Shan Hanes betray Heartland Financial institution and its buyers, however his unlawful schemes additionally jeopardized confidence in monetary establishments.”
