Mo. Gubernatorial Candidate Tied to Troubled Bank
Here’s just another example of GOP hypocrisy - tough on the deficit until they need a taxpayer loan.
Soon Spence’s involvement in the bank grew. He joined the board of directors of Reliance Bank in May 2005 and immediately took out a $7.9 million mortgage for the headquarters of Alpha Packaging. More loans followed in subsequent years. He borrowed money to buy and renovate a building in Earth City that he rents to another business. He also took out loans on a house for his sister-in-law and a condominium for his mother. On Feb. 13, 2009, the bank’s holding company - Reliance Bancshares - received $40 million from the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP. Later that same month, Spence took out an equity loan on his home. In May 2009, Spence was elevated to the board of directors for the bank holding company. The next year, he took out a more than $1.1 million mortgage on a vacation home at the Lake of the Ozarks and a smaller loan on his business property. Democrats have been quick to seize upon Spence’s role in overseeing a bank that required a federal bailout. “Dave Spence helped drive this bank into the ground. The bank was then forced to get a $40 million loan from the taxpayers. And instead of repaying the taxpayers, he gave himself an insider loan to buy a vacation home,” said Caitlin Legacki, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Democratic Party. Technically, Spence did not give himself the home loan. As a board member, Spence was considered a bank “insider” under federal regulations, and his loans thus required approval by the bank’s board of directors. But Spence said he left the room while his colleagues voted to approve each of his loans. A spokeswoman at the bank did not return phone messages. “There was no favoritism and there was no special treatment, like `Oh that’s Dave, he’s good for it.’ Baloney,” Spence said. “You had to go through the same scrutiny, or more, on the board as you would if you came in off the street and wanted to buy a house.”