An ex- banker from Georgia who staged his own suicide in 2012 to hide the embezzlement of millions of dollars was hit with a 30-year jail sentence on Tuesday, NBC News reported.
Aubrey Lee Price, 48, had been declared legally dead at his wife's request up until he was found last year. He pleaded guilty to bank, wire and securities fraud in June.
Price allegedly embezzled, misspent and lost roughly $60 million belonging to the Montgomery Bank & Trust and private investors. Montgomery closed shortly after Price disappeared.
He was able to cover up his fraudulent activity by filing phony bank and account statements. Price also allegedly raised $51 million from over 100 investors for funds he managed, and concealing the future losses with mocked- up bank account statements, Yahoo News reported.
Price was last seen boarding a ferry in Key West, FL., a few weeks before the bank closed due to its depleted reserves and assets. Prior to this, he had left letters talking about he planned to jump off a ferryboat. Price, a former preacher, transformed his appearance while on the lamb and traveled to other U.S. states as well as Venezuela. A routine traffic stop on the Georgia Coast ended his two-year run.
"Price engaged in a staggering betrayal of trust, leaving his elderly investors practically penniless, and at the same time, contributing to the collapse of a federally insured bank," U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver said in a statement, according to Yahoo News. "For his crimes, Price richly deserves the heavy sentence handed down today."
