The former CEO of the failed Heartland Tri-State Bank has been sentenced to over 24 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wichita said that Shan Hanes was sentenced to 293 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty in May to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer. Hanes had been accused of embezzling $47.1 million for personal cryptocurrency purchases, executing 10 wire transfers between May and July 2023.

U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union in Albuquerque, N.M., has agreed to buy Southwest Capital Bank in Albuquerque. The $1.5 billion-asset U.S. Eagle did not disclose how much it will pay to buy the $434 million-asset Southwest Capital. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. U.S. Eagle said the deal will help it expand its cannabis lending and banking services. The credit union already has cannabis banking arm

Monzo has hired one of its advisers to run its U.S. bank. The U.K. neobank said that Carol Nelson will serve as U.S. CEO tasked with overseeing expansion in the market. Nelson has years of banking experience, including serving and president and CEO of Cascade Bank. Monzo recently raised nearly $65 million from a group that includes Octahedron Capital and existing investors.

Freedom Bancshares in Belington, W.Va., and Appalachian Financial in Philippi, W.Va., have filed the application for their planned merger of equals. Freedom, the parent of the $204 million-asset Freedom Bank, and the holding company for the $217 million-asset BCBank agreed to merge in April. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter; the price wasn’t disclosed. BCBank is a very well-respected banking organization,” Freedom Bank President and CEO

Spokane Teachers Credit Union in Washington has agreed to buy Community Bank in Joseph, Ore. The $6.4 billion-asset STCU said in a press release that it expects to buy the $550 million-asset bank early next year. The price wasn’t disclosed. STCU plans to keep all Community Bank employees. Community Bank is the 16th bank to agree to sell to a credit union this year – and the fifth in Washington

SB Financial Group in Defiance, Ohio, has agreed to buy Marblehead Bancorp in Marblehead, Ohio.   The $1.3 billion-asset SB Financial said in a press release that it will pay $5 million in cash for the $58.3 million-asset Marblehead. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.   Marblehead has two full-service branches and a limited-service branch.   “Both banks share a rich past, a strong brand and

KeyCorp in Cleveland agreed to sell a 14.9% stake in itself to The Bank of Nova Scotia for about $2.8 billion. The investment should increase Key’s CET1 capital ratio by 195 basis points to 12.4% and its tangible book value per share by more than 10%. Key said it intends to evaluate repositioning its available-for-sale securities portfolio to accelerate the timing of expected profitability, liquidity and capital improvements “Scotiabank approached

Customers Bancorp in West Reading, Pa., which just received an enforcement action requiring it to improve Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, just hired a chief compliance and AML officer. The $22 billion-asset company said in a press release that Allen Love will lead its bank’s enterprise-wide compliance program, “ensuring it continues to evolve as regulatory expectations increase.” The release cited the recent written agreement between the bank and