ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 1996 TAG: 9601230095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
A former senior vice president of the National Bank of Blacksburg was indicted on three fraud counts by a federal grand jury Monday.
Harold Chafin, who used to be manager of the bank's Pearisburg branch, is accused of improperly issuing three cashier's checks, totaling $76,570, that were not paid for.
His attorney, Max Jenkins, said Chafin is innocent of the charges of willfully misapplying money owned by, or entrusted to the care and custody of, the National Bank of Blacksburg.
Jenkins hadn't seen the indictment, but had heard rumors racing around Giles County for nearly a year. He said he was relieved, ``if that's all the proof the federal government's got against him.'' He said investigators wouldn't tell him much in recent months.
According to the indictment, a friend gave Chafin $30,000 to invest for him in 1992 and lent him another $15,000 in 1994. The friend, Thomas L. Brotherton, then began pressuring Chafin to return the money, plus anything it had earned.
Chafin wrote Brotherton two personal checks in October 1994 totaling $51,492, which, the indictment says, bounced. He is accused of issuing a cashier's check to Brotherton for that amount two weeks later.
He also is charged with issuing an unauthorized cashier's check to Brotherton that month for $9,978 and a check to First Community Bank a month later for $15,100. That check is alleged to have been to cover a debt owed by Dan's Autoville, a used car dealership owned by the late Dan Ratcliffe, a friend of Chafin's.
Jenkins said Chafin didn't profit from any of his alleged activities and that the bank didn't lose any money. ``I don't think they lost a dime out of it. I'm kind of surprised they [put] as much time into this.''
The bank's attorney said she didn't want to comment about whether the bank lost any money. The prosecutor, Tom Eckert, could not be reached for comment.
The indictment says nothing about an investigation made public last spring, when a letter from the Giles County assistant commonwealth's attorney to state police was obtained by The Roanoke Times. It discussed ``an investigation into what appears to be a misappropriation of funds from a bank account'' of the county's Industrial Development Authority, which Chafin headed.
State police wrote back that federal authorities already were conducting an investigation. The letter doesn't mention Chafin by name, but notes that the IDA's chairman also was a senior vice president at the bank ``and would have had the ability to make the internal debits which [occurred] in this case.''
Jenkins said he is not aware of a state investigation of Chafin and believes the indictment contains the only charges that will be brought against him.
``I'm sure that's all they have,'' he said.
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