A federal judge may dismiss some counts in an indictment against Wilmington Trust and five former senior bank executives after hearing arguments Thursday.
U.S. Judge Richard G. Andrews said he will likely dismiss a handful of counts alleging the bank and executives made false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission and other government agencies because of improper wording in the indictment. The term “willfully” should have been used, instead of “unlawfully” in certain counts.
Thursday’s hearing in Wilmington is the latest since Wilmington Trust, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of M&T Bank Corp., was added in January as a defendant to the indictment pending against David Gibson, Robert V.A. Harra, William North and Kevyn Rakowski. The 19-count indictment marked the first time a bank that received federal bailout money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program was indicted.
“They are trying to put people in jail, and they won’t even say the standard,” said Michael Kelly, representing Harra.