Banker convicted of bribery for conspiring to occupy Trump administration position

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A former Chicago bank executive was convicted Tuesday of a scheme to arrange $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in exchange for a high-profile position in the Trump administration.

Stephen Kalk, the former CEO of the Federal Reserve, has been found guilty of bribery of a financial institution and conspiracy to commit bribery from financial institutions after a three-week trial in Manhattan.

“Calc used the federally insured bank he ran as a personal piggy bank in an effort to buy himself prestige and power,” Manhattan District Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement. “Today’s ruling sends a message that corruption at the highest levels in federally regulated financial institutions will be pursued by this office.”

Calc’s attorney, Paul Schumann, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a scheme that ran from July 2016 to January 2017, Calk worked to approve several high-risk loans to Manafort, which desperately needed them to avoid foreclosure on many properties.

While the loans pending approval, submitted to Kalk Manafort list ranking jobs they want. At the top occupied the two main positions in the US Treasury, followed by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Defense. The list also included 19 high-level ambassadors for countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy.

Manafort took out three separate Federal Savings Bank loans in December 2016 and January 2017 for homes in New York City, Virginia and the Hamptons, New York.

As part of his efforts to secure Calc’s position in the Trump administration, Manafort emailed his resume to Jared Kushner. Calk eventually got an interview at Trump Tower, but was never offered a job within the administration.

Calek, 56, faces up to 30 years in prison. He was sentenced to prison in January 2022.

Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged Manafort with tax evasion and violating federal lobbying laws, among other crimes, to hide millions of dollars he obtained from pro-Russian political figures in Ukraine.

He was convicted after a jury trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and pleaded guilty to related charges in a separate Washington, D.C. case.

Manafort was sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison, but former President Donald Trump pardoned him in December 2020.

Tom Winter

Tom Winter is a New York-based reporter covering crime, court, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

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