Man must repay nearly $1.5M in bank embezzlement scheme

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – A former bank officer must serve two years in federal prison and repay $1.46 million to his former employer.

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson on Thursday sentenced Michael Erickson, after he pleaded guilty in October to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer.

The 42-year-old Ridgeland resident was formerly Clarksdale-area president of Southern Bancorp Bank, which is based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Erickson waived indictment and agreed to plead guilty to a charge that said he took $25,000 from an $85,000 loan. However, northern Mississippi U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar says Erickson was generating other fraudulent loans to give himself and others cash.

The bank was loaned $33.8 million in federal money in 2010, part of a nationwide bailout of banks.

Erickson must also serve three years of supervised release.

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