MIAMI (AP) - A federal jury has cleared a former bank executive of civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission nearly a decade ago.
Monday’s verdict exonerating former BankAtlantic CEO Alan Levan follows a six-week trial in Miami. Charges against Levan date back to 2007, at the start of the real-estate market crash and subsequent financial crisis.
The SEC had accused Levan of making false statements about the performance of real estate loans held by BankAtlantic during a July 2007 conference call. Investigators also claimed BankAtlantic improperly accounted for 17 loans held in the bank’s portfolio.
North Carolina-based BB&T Corporation bought most of BankAtlantic’s assets in 2012, and the bank became BBX Capital Corporation.
Levan has recently returned as top executive of BBX following a successful appeal of the 2014 judgment.
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