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Dumfries, Va - On Dec. 17, 1981, a federal grand jury in Alexandria indicted Wayne Shiflett, 21 on 10 counts of embezzlement and misapplication of bank funds. It charged that Shiftlett had absconded with at least $60,000 from the State Bank of Prince William County, with headquarters in Dumfries.
When this case goes to trial Jan. 25, stockholders, customers and neighbors of this small-town bank will be watching intently. It's not so much the news about a bank executive's indictment, nor the amount of money that could be involved, that has stirred intense interest.
Some stockholders are indignant that they were not kept abreast of recent developments. And although there have been encouraging signs, unraveling events surrounding the embezzlement charges and the inside troubles of the bank in the past couple of years provides a rare look at the complexities of a management-shareholder dispute disturbing this otherwise quite country town.
Despite his youth, Wayne Shiflett was assistant vice president of State Bank, having worked his way up from runner in18 months. His father, Cecil Shiftlett, was president of the Bank. Wayne's mother, sister and wife were also on the payroll about that time, but no longer are. As president, Cecil Shiflett recieved free country club membership and the use of a car.
The indictment charges that wayne Shiflett unlawfully took money on six different occassions between March and July 1980 by making out cashier's checks to third parties and then cashing them. A shortfall was discovered on a Friday in early July by a teller and reported to the president, Cecil Shiftlett, by a vice president who went to Shiflett's house the next day. Wayne Shiflett has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the government agency that insures banks, says it did not know of the shortfall and other financial difficulties until January 1981. Wayne was kept on the payroll until Aug. 30. After he left, he went to work on a horse farm, then left the area until he turned himself in to the FBI last month after being indicted.
More than alleged embezzlement has troubled State Bank, however. A 10-page report, made by an FDIC examiner and signed by the regional director of the FDIC,Translator
Rachel Hughes