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sggatecl
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Bank CEO charged in Manafort bribery scheme to get Trump administration post
*Edit* Thanks, Tinsel!
(Reuters) - The head of a Chicago-based bank was charged in an indictment unsealed on Thursday with bribery and accused of corruptly approving high-risk loans to President Donald Trump?s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in a scheme to land a top Trump administration post such as secretary of the U.S. Army.
Stephen Calk, who was chairman and CEO of Federal Savings Bank though is now on a leave of absence, was charged by federal prosecutors in New York with one count of financial institution bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of 30 years.
Calk?s name repeatedly came up during Manafort?s 2018 financial fraud trial in Virginia, with prosecutors saying he approved $16 million in loans for Manafort in exchange for help securing a senior federal post under Trump. Calk, 54, was named to a Trump campaign economic advisory committee and interviewed for the job of Army under secretary but did not land that job.
Calk provided Manafort with a ranked wish list of government jobs, and Manafort recommended to Trump?s post-election transition team before he became president that Calk be appointed as Army secretary, the service?s top civilian post, according to the indictment. Calk served in the Army for 16 years, Margolis said.
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Manafort also used his influence with Trump?s transition team to land Calk a formal interview for the position of under secretary of the Army in January 2017, though Calk was not selected for that position or any other government job, according to the indictment.
Calk?s wish list also included treasury secretary or deputy secretary, defense secretary, commerce secretary and 19 ambassador posts in countries including Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Calk ?abused the power entrusted to him as the top official of a federally insured bank by approving millions of dollars in high-risk loans in an effort to secure a personal benefit, namely an appointment as Secretary of the Army or another similarly high-level position,? said Audrey Strauss, the top prosecutor overseeing the case in Manhattan.
*Edit* Thanks, Tinsel!
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