2024-08-19 (sentenced), Date of the FDIC Office of Inspector General release announcing the sentence. · US · Heartland Tri-State Bank

Heartland Tri-State Bank CEO sentenced after pig butchering loss, 2024

Sentence handed down.

Shan Hanes, 53, of Elkhart, Kansas, the former chief executive of Heartland Tri-State Bank, was sentenced to 293 months in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement by a bank officer. The FDIC Office of Inspector General said that between May and July 2023 he initiated 11 outgoing wire transfers totalling $47.1 million of the bank's funds to a cryptocurrency wallet in a scheme referred to as pig butchering. Kansas regulators closed the bank on 28 July 2023. Hanes's lawyer argued he was himself a scam victim; an FBI agent said the bank's job was to protect its customers from fraudulent scams, not to participate in them.

$47.1M (stolen; Bank funds Hanes embezzled and wired to the scheme in 11 transfers. Separately, the FDIC estimated at closure that the failure would cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $54.2 million, and investors lost $9 million in equity.)

Timeline

1. 2023-05-01 Between May and July 2023 Hanes initiates 11 wire transfers totalling $47.1 million of the bank's funds to a cryptocurrency wallet.
2. 2023-07-28 The Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner closes the bank; Dream First Bank assumes all deposits.
3. 2024-05-01 In May 2024 Hanes pleads guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer.
4. 2024-08-19 Hanes is sentenced to 293 months in prison.

Lessons

• Require dual approval and board visibility for large outgoing wires, including those a chief executive initiates.
• Treat any investment pitched by an online contact, with profits visible only on their platform, as pig butchering.
• Train senior executives as well as front-line staff: people with authority over funds are prime targets.

Scam types: Pig butchering

Sources

1. FDIC Office of Inspector General: Former CEO of failed bank sentenced to prison (Law enforcement, primary, accessed 2026-09-24)
2. FDIC: Dream First Bank, National Association, of Syracuse, Kansas, assumes all of the deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas (Regulator, primary, accessed 2026-09-24)
3. Banking Dive: Former Kansas bank CEO gets 24 years in prison (News report, secondary, accessed 2026-09-24)