Former Kansas bank CEO pleads guilty to $47.1 million crypto embezzlement scheme

The former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank pleaded guilty on Thursday to embezzling $47.1 million for a series of personal cryptocurrency purchases, “causing the bank to fail at a complete loss of equity for investors,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.

Shan Hanes, 52, of Elkhart, caused at least 10 wire transfers from the bank from May 2023 to July 2023 for the purpose of investing in cryptocurrency, the news release said.

The Elkhart bank was seized by the Kansas Banking Commission last July and later bought by Dream First Bank of Syracuse.

“Shan Hanes is a liar and a master manipulator who caused Heartland Tri-State Bank to collapse,” U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher said in a Department of Justice news release. “Even as he was squandering away tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, Hanes orchestrated schemes to cover his tracks concerning the losses at the bank.”

“Many victims will never fully recoup losses to their life savings and retirement funds,” she said in the release.

Hanes pleaded guilty to a single count of embezzlement by a bank officer, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8.