American Traffic Solutions compiled a mashup of the top worst red light fails. USA TODAY NETWORK

Federal regulators have lifted orders affecting management of Liberty Bell Bank, which operates this office in Cherry Hill and two others.(Photo: Jim Walsh/Staff photographer)Buy Photo

EVESHAM - Liberty Bell Bank, citing progress in a turnaround effort, said Monday regulators have eased their grip on the company.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and state Department of Banking and Insurance have terminated consent orders in effect since November 2013, when Liberty Bell was struggling with persistent financial problems, the bank said.

Burlington Coat Factory faces storm over Ivanka

"The lifting of the consent orders is a testament to the progress we have made in strengthening our operations," said Benjamin F. Watts, the bank's president and CEO since November 2014.

The consent orders were needed for "safety and soundness issues" related to multiple problems at Liberty Bell, according to the state banking agency. Among other concerns, the orders cited the need to bolster the bank's management and capital, and to reduce "loan and lease losses."

Liberty Belllost $10.3 million for fiscal years 2012 through 2014.

Kingsway Learning Center eyes Voorhees

The three-office bank has reported profits for its last seven quarters, with a net income of $143,000 for 2015 and $134,000 for the first nine months of 2016.

It reported assets of $145 million at the end of its latest quarter.

A federal judge in October 2015 found some of Liberty Bell's losses were caused by "a fraudulent scheme" conducted by a business customer, Luis G. Rogers Sr.

In a civil suit, Liberty Bell alleged Rogers supplied phony contracts as collateral for loans to his equipment-leasing business, and that he then engaged in a check-kiting scheme when he could not pay back the loans.

Liberty Bell made more than 100 loans to Rogers' firm, LGR Group of Mount Holly, beginning in 2005. The bank ultimately realized Rogers was overdrawn by more than $3 million, the lawsuit said.

The bankbegan operations in 2003 with Cherry Hill attorney Michael Kwasnik as its principal founder. He resigned from the board three years later.

A state judge, ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General's Office, in October 2015 ordered Kwasnik and two other men to pay $8.6 million in restitution to victims of a Ponzi scheme from December 2008 through March 2010. That money was owed primarily to elderly investors who bought unregistered securities in another Cherry Hill firm, Liberty State Financial Holdings Corp.

Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com

Read or Share this story: http://on.cpsj.com/2kEirJV

Read the rest here:

Regulators ease grip on Liberty Bell Bank - Cherry Hill Courier Post