By KAREN VELIE
Less then a month after Heritage Oaks Bancorp raised $60 million through the sale of securities, some members of the Board of Directors and high-ranking bank officials have taken off for the board’s annual trip to the Hawaiian Islands, sources said.
The junket comes on the heels of regulatory action that banned the company from paying dividends or incurring debt as part of a written agreement between the company and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Shortly after the Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks Bancorp raised the additional capital, the company released revised fourth quarter losses that increased the year to date net losses from $5.8 million to $7 million. Bank officials blamed accounting errors for a recently discovered additional $1.8 million in losses for the fourth quarter of 2009.
Last year, while bank officials were waiting for the U.S. government to deliver their allotment of $21 million in taxpayer bailout money, at least six bank officials chose to bide their time on an Hawaiian beach. Meanwhile, state side, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts vowed to introduce legislation to end “the extravagant spending practices” of banks that participated in the federal bailout.
Bank staff told CalCoastNews that CEO Larry Ward recently returned from vacation. Ward did not return requests for comment.
