Dive Brief:

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) banned a former Bank of the West employee from working in the industry after he admitted to making fraudulent loans, according to an enforcement action made public Friday.

• The regulator said Mark Wong made fraudulent loans in the names of bank customers without their authorization or knowledge while serving as a vice president and business banking officer at the San Francisco-based lender. He then transferred those loan funds to accounts he controlled for his personal benefit, the FDIC said.

• Wong, who worked at the bank until 2016, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in January, according to American Banker.

Dive Insight:

Wong used personal identification information from clients to apply for loans from Bank of the West "in amounts that [he] knew would be approved," according to court documents cited by American Banker. 

Wong would change the address and the bank routing information for the fraudulent loan applications to his own addresses and accounts, prosecutors said.

According to court filings, Wong was ordered to pay back nearly $220,000 in restitution and was sentenced to one day of imprisonment. 

Wong was also placed under two months of house arrest and ordered to serve 100 hours of community service.

In its consent order, the FDIC said Wong "engaged in unsound banking practices, and breached his fiduciary duty as an institution-affiliated party of Bank of the West."

"[Wong’s] violations, practices, and breaches involved personal dishonesty and demonstrated ... willful and/or continuing disregard for the safety or soundness of the Bank," the FDIC wrote. 

Bank of the West is a $96 billion-asset subsidiary of French bank BNP Paribas.