The former chief executive officer of a bank in Caddo County has been sentenced to federal prison for committing bank fraud.
Aaron D. Johnson, 43, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by one year of home confinement and two years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $102,069 in restitution and a $100,000 fine.
Johnson became the president and chief executive officer of Farmers Bank of Carnegie in 2016, at the age of 34, and was vice chairman of the board of directors. He is the son of a former chairman of the bank’s board of directors and grandson of the bank’s founder.
In his role, Johnson had access to the bank’s operating account credit card.
A forensic audit performed by the accounting firm BKD determined that Johnson was responsible for $398,389 in personal charges on the AmEx card. He reimbursed the bank for $371,000, leaving a balance due of $27,389 plus $18,171 in interest owed on the personal charges.
According to information filed by investigators, between September 2017 and late July 2018 Johnson used the bank’s American Express card to pay his personal expenses, causing an overdraft of approximately $200,000 in the bank’s operating account.
On July 30, 2018, Johnson approved a modification to a loan, without approval from the bank’s board of directors, that renewed the loan in an increased amount. The federal felony charge further alleged that Johnson caused a $200,000 advance on the loan, wired the money into an account he controlled, and used the money to repay the overdraft that he caused. According to a sentencing memorandum filed with the federal court, the stolen $200,000 has been “repaid in full.”
Johnson pleaded guilty Feb. 4, 2025, and was sentenced Oct. 3 for admitting he knowingly executed a scheme to obtain money from the bank by means of false or fraudulent pretenses.
The case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Office of Inspector General.
Aaron Johnson also signed a consent decree with the FDIC in September 2019. He was accused of engaging or participating in “violations, unsafe or unsound banking practices, and breaches of fiduciary duty as an institution-affiliated party” of the Carnegie bank.
For example, he caused the bank “to pay for numerous expenses that were charged to his personal credit card, and which were for the personal benefit of himself or his family.”
The FDIC barred Aaron Johnson from participating “in any manner in the conduct of the affairs of any financial institution or agency…”