WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BB&T denies an April 1 statement by an administrative law judge that it somehow "aided" a fraud scheme at the North Carolina mountain development known as Village of Penland. To the contrary, BB&T was a victim of the fraud which took place at the Village of Penland and, as previously disclosed, lost $20 million. BB&T would have incurred even greater losses had the situation continued.
When BB&T was made aware of allegations involving the Village of Penland, BB&T launched an extensive investigation into the matter and provided substantial material to appropriate authorities. In addition, BB&T made numerous efforts to inform other financial institutions which were also victimized. BB&T and its Code of Ethics require all employees to report any violations of law and unethical behavior.
In this Department of Labor hearing, Ms. Stroupe was appealing a 2007 ruling against her by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA spent five months investigating the case, interviewing numerous witnesses, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. OSHA concluded Ms. Stroupe's claims against BB&T lacked merit. While the administrative law judge reached a different conclusion, BB&T plans to appeal the administrative law judge's ruling and is hopeful that the decision of OSHA will be reaffirmed.
About BB&T
As of Dec. 31, 2009, BB&T Corporation is the 10th largest financial services holding company in the U.S. with more than $165 billion in assets and market capitalization of $17.5 billion. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., the company operates more than 1,800 financial centers in 12 states and Washington, D.C., and offers a full range of consumer and commercial banking, securities brokerage, asset management, mortgage and insurance products and services. A Fortune 500 company, BB&T is consistently recognized for outstanding client satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Greenwich Associates and others. More information about BB&T and its full line of products and services is available at http://www.bbt.com/.
BB&T Corporation
CONTACT: Cynthia Williams, Senior Vice President, BB&T Corporate
Communications, +1-336- 733-1478
Web Site: http://www.bbt.com/
