BAYONNE AND BEYOND — Brian Campbell, 42, the former managing director of the investment subsidiary of Bayonne’s Pamrapo Bank, was found guilty Tuesday of embezzlement, according to a published newspaper report.
A jury determined he was guilty after he was charged with diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions and fees to his personal accounts.
According to the story, the jury was deadlocked on four counts of money laundering, so U.S. Distric Court Judget Dickinson Debevoise declared a mistrial on those counts.
He could receive up to 20 years in prison when sentenced June 20.
Pamrapo Savings Bank merged with BCB Banccorp last June.
The company itself was in some trouble before the merger last year, as the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a fine of $1 million against it for violating requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). According to a government press relase, “Pamrapo’s lack of internal controls combined with unqualified BSA compliance personnel, relatively non-existent training and deficient independent testing resulted in a wholly ineffective BSA compliance program which, in turn, resulted in the failure to file a substantial number of currency transaction and suspicious activity reports in an accurate and timely manner. Pamrapo Savings Bank, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to payment of the civil money penalty…FinCEN found that between January 1, 2005 and April 21, 2009, the bank flagrantly and repeatedly disregarded the most basic BSA requirements which resulted in an ineffective Anti-Money Laundering program and significant reporting failures.”