June 05, 2006
Farmers Exchange Bancorporation and Farmers Exchange Bank of Cherokee, Oklahoma, will pay the federal government over $2 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to the Farm Service Agency of the Department of Agriculture. The suit, originally brought by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that FEB improperly charged excessive fees and inflated interest rates on federally-guaranteed agricultural loans.
News of the settlement was reported by U.S. Newswire on May 31, 2006.