A former loan officer admitted Tuesday he used Tacoma Rescue Mission accounts to illegally siphon money from Northwest Commercial Bank.
Jeffrey Goodell pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to a single count of bank fraud. Goodell is to be sentenced Feb. 4 by Judge Benjamin Settle.
Goodell will be ordered to pay restitution to Northwest Commercial Bank, where he worked, and its insurance carriers as part of his sentence. The amount still is to be determined.
He also has agreed not to seek work in the banking industry again as part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Other details of his plea bargain and recommended sentence were not made public.
Allegations that Goodell and possibly others were defrauding Northwest Commercial using the mission’s accounts came to light in December 2010, but federal prosecutors didn’t charge him until last month.
According to charging documents, mission officials opened a $500,000 money market account at the bank and two lines of credit, one for $500,000 and the other for $100,000, in August 2010. Unbeknownst to the mission, Goodell drained the accounts and created false statements and lied to his bosses to try to cover his tracks, court records show.
The bank covered the mission’s losses and has been cooperating with federal authorities in the prosecution of Goodell.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Strombom allowed Goodell to remain free until sentencing. Strombom did require him to surrender his passport.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644 adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/crime @TNTadam
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