Banks’ Trio of Alleged Frauds Sparks Fear of Broader Issues (2)

Relative to the collapse of First Brands Group and Tricolor Holdings, the hits disclosed by regional lenders Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp seemed small — a figure in the tens of millions, not billions.

Still, the back-to-back reveal of loan fraud renewed the simmering debate on Wall Street about whether the era of freewheeling capital is about to cause a comeuppance for banks and non-banks alike.

In the case of Zions and Western Alliance, the alleged culprits were the same: investment funds tied to Andrew Stupin and Gerald Marcil, among other parties, borrowed the funds to finance their ...