Following $1.6 million theft, FDIC prohibits New York banker; two banks lose insurance coverage

A former New York banker was prohibited from further working at a bank after stealing more than $1.6 million from the institution, the federal insurer of bank deposits said Friday in a report of enforcement actions it took in September.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said Gangadai Rampersaud Azim (a.k.a. Julie Azim), a former employee of Habib American Bank in New York, N.Y., consented to the prohibition order.

According to the FDIC, Azim was a manager in the trade service division of the bank. The FDIC said that from August 2008 through January 2021, she conspired to commit bank fraud and misappropriated funds from the bank by processing fraudulent export letters of credit discount bills, causing the bank to sustain a loss totaling $1.68 million. The FDIC said Azim has agreed to make full restitution to the bank.

In other September enforcement actions, the FDIC said it:

  • Prohibited Aasim Khan, a former employee of SunTrust Bank (now Truist Bank) in an Arlington, Va., branch of the bank, for unsafe and unsound banking practices. According to the agency, Khan in 2017 caused to be issued an official bank check drawn on the bank and owned by a customer. The check was payable to “Feed the Kids, LLC” for $240,000. The customer, the agency said, was not aware of the transaction and did not authorize it. The check was then deposited into an account named “Feed the Kids, LLC” which Khan created and controlled. The FDIC said Khan consented to the prohibition.
  • Revoked deposit insurance coverage for two Illinois banks. The agency said Tempo Bank of Trenton, and Midwest Community Bank of Freeport, were no longer engaged in the business of receiving deposits “other than trust funds,” and therefore approved the voluntary termination of their deposit insurance coverage.

FDIC Enforcement Decisions and Orders