When a banker and respected community leader got scammed, bank customers fumed. Turns out, the swindled financier had stolen their money for a get-rich-quick scheme. Victims will see their money returned and the banker punished. Where’s the life lesson?
Shan Hanes founded community-owned Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas. In 2022, Hanes started buying cryptocurrency, digital money nicknamed “crypto.” His plan was to pad his personal account using others’ hard-earned cash.
To fund his crypto purchases, Hanes stole $40,000 from his church and $10,000 from an investment club. He used $60,000 of his daughter’s college fund. Eventually, he stole $47.1 million from customer bank accounts too.
“Hanes’ greed knew no bounds,” says U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher.
Hanes watched “his” money supposedly grow to over $200 million. But the website he monitored was fake. Hanes was wiring money straight to scammers.
Attorney John Stang says Hanes’ plan “failed big time.”
Poof! The crook got conned.
Authorities warn that schemes like the one that ensnared Hanes are booming. Scammers gain people’s trust and convince them to pursue unjust gain.
The Bible warns that loving money can lead to “all kind of evils.” (1 Timothy 6:10) Scripture also speaks of being “wise as serpents.” (Matthew 10:16) Hanes’ actions were absolutely wrong. But wisdom may involve placing one’s financial eggs in multiple baskets instead of in one place like some bank customers did.
Hanes’ actions drained Heartland Tri-State Bank of cash. Federal regulators shuttered the bank. Thankfully, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insured most customers’ savings and checking accounts.
But 30 bank shareholders (part owners) thought their life savings had vanished—retirement accounts, funds for eldercare, education money, and bequests for children and grandchildren.
This year, the FBI recovered some funds from an account in the Cayman Islands.
A federal judge assured shareholders they’d be paid back in full and sentenced Hanes to 24 years in prison.
“I had no intention of ever causing the harm that I did,” Hanes says in a statement that falls short of an apology. “I’ll forever struggle to understand how I was duped and how what I thought was just getting the money back was making it worse.”
Hanes’ attorney says, “Mr. Hanes made some very bad choices after being caught up in an extremely well-run cryptocurrency scam.”
But prosecutors insist Hanes wasn’t merely a victim. They assert he crossed a line when he began taking customers’ money and violating banking rules.
Attorney Brubacher says, “He trespassed his professional obligations, his personal relationships, and federal law.” But the worst trespass was violating God’s law.
Why? Learning to handle money and to be aware of scammers is important. The Bible calls us to be faithful stewards of what God has given us—and to respect what belongs to others.
