Former East Texas Bank VP Sentenced to Probation

TYLER – A 53-year-old former bank vice president and trust officer has been sentenced in Tyler federal court for unlawfully structuring transactions. Carol D. Rushton of Tyler pleaded guilty Dec. 17 and was sentenced to 36 months of federal probation. Rushton was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and must perform 108 hours of community service as well as notify all of her current and future clients of her conviction.

According to information presented in court, Rushton committed the offenses from November 2010 to August 2012 while employed at Regions Bank in Tyler. Officials say she caused nine separate transactions of $10,000 or less, totaling $70,500, for the purpose of evading federal reporting requirements. Rushton admitted that she was aware that financial institutions are responsible for filing a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Internal Revenue Service when a customer conducts a currency transaction in excess of $10,000.