A third former bank executive facing a 29-count federal indictment related to the failed Ramsey Town Center project was charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit fraud by withholding information from other banks that helped finance the project.
The charge against Curtis A. Martinson, a former executive vice president of Community National Bank, then in North Branch, was filed by "information" rather than indictment, indicating a plea agreement may be coming soon. A plea hearing is set for Friday.
Martinson, 54, of Eden Prairie, was one of three former executives at Community National Bank charged together in the original federal indictment handed up in April. In August, the two other executives, Bill Sandison and his son, Ross Sandison, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of withholding information from other banks and misleading federal investigators.
The three were at the center of a speculative real estate project that will go down as one of the biggest residential real estate debacles in the Twin Cities. The Ramsey Town Center development was to transform the town of Ramsey into a 322-acre suburban community with shops, parks and 2,800 homes. Community National Bank put together a $35 million participation loan with 18 other banks in 2003 to fund it. But according to the original indictment in April, money for the project ended up with bank executives who diverted it for their own use and then tried to cover it up.
The new charge says Martinson failed to provide the group of banks backing the project with crucial information about large additional loans he and the others made to Ramsey Town Center's developers. He also allegedly sent them a misleading letter about how one of the loans was being repaid.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Community National Bank sold its North Branch headquarters branch to People's National Bank of Mora and moved to Lino Lakes.
Jennifer Bjorhus • 612-673-4683
