FDIC Watchdog Weighs Criminal Charges Against Bank Officials (Meera Louis)

Nov. 17, 2010 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s internal watchdog and the FBI are cooperating on about 50 cases of possible criminal violations involving former and current bank employees and customers, an official said.

The criminal investigations are being conducted independent of the previously confirmed civil lawsuits the bank regulator is pursuing against officers and directors of failed lenders, FDIC Deputy Inspector General Fred W. Gibson said today in a telephone interview.

The FDIC’s office of the inspector general, which audits and investigates the agency’s operations, is working with the FBI “on virtually all of the cases,” Gibson said. “These investigations could also involve individuals who are principally borrowers from the institutions or other people who did business from the bank.”

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson, without confirming involvement in the 50 cases, said in an e-mailed statement that his agency is working on bank-related probes.

READ MORE: Bloomberg