Johnny Gutierrez, a former loan officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States in Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty for his role in approving unqualified loan applications in exchange for bribes. In his position with the Ex-Im Bank, Gutierrez was responsible for credit underwriting reviews of loan applications.
According to the Justice Department news release, Gutierrez, between 2006 and 2013 accepted bribes totaling approximately $78,000 in exchange for recommending the approval of unqualified loans and expediting other applications. One approved loan was to a company that had previously defaulted on ten prior transactions guaranteed by the bank, causing Ex-Im Bank to lose $20 million. Sentencing for Gutierrez is scheduled for July 2015.
