Minneapolis - A former vice-president and commercial loan officer at the Hibbing Branch of the Republic Bank of Duluth was sentenced today in United States District Court for defrauding his former employer and an elderly woman. Robert Pascavage, age 37, of North Branch, Minnesota, was sentenced to fifty-one months in prison. He was also ordered by Chief Judge James M. Rosenbaum to pay $126,253 in restitution to the elderly victim. Pascavage pled guilty in March of 2006 to one count of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud.

According to court documents, Pascavage was the vice president and commercial loan officer at the Hibbing Branch of the Republic Bank of Duluth from October of 2002 through June of 2004. His responsibilities at the bank included processing commercial loans on behalf of the bank and creating loan files that included financial information such as tax returns, credit reports, loan applications, and supporting financial documents. Pascavage used his position as a loan officer to create and authorize fraudulent loans in the names of others, including family members, that were intended for his benefit. Moreover, in an attempt to conceal the nominee loans and to pay-off a delinquent loan, Pascavage stole over $116,000 from a trustee account for which he had been given the power of attorney. Pascavage obtained money from that account, which belonged to an elderly widow, by falsely promising that the funds would be invested in real estate.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorneys Clifford B. Wardlaw and Joseph T. Dixon prosecuted the case.