Timber Ponzi Receiver’s Claims Against Banks Mostly Advance

Three banks accused of facilitating an $85 million timber Ponzi scheme must face most of a court-appointed receiver’s claims against them, but are free of others, a federal judge in Mississippi said.

Trustmark National Bank, Southern Bancorp Bank, and RiverHills Bank allegedly could tell Arthur Lamar Adams was running a fraudulent scheme even before his 2018 arrest and guilty plea but “looked away.” Their motions to dismiss the receiver’s complaint are granted in part and denied in part, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi said.

Adams banked at Trustmark until 2016, when the bank asked ...