Former President Of Arkansas Bank Indicted Neal Ainley Becomes Fifth Charged In Whitewater Probe

A grand jury investigating the Whitewater affair Tuesday indicted the former president of an Arkansas bank that loaned money to Bill Clinton’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign.

Independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s office announced the five felony charges against Neal T. Ainley, former president of Perry County Bank. The charges were handed up by the grand jury in Little Rock, Ark.

The indictment accuses Ainley of misleading the government about certain transactions at the bank.

Starr’s office said the charges against Ainley included:

One count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government regarding the reporting of currency transactions, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine upon conviction.

Two counts of causing a bank to fail to file a currency transaction report. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

One count of making false entries in bank records, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines.

One count of making false statements to a federal department or agency, which carries a maximum of five years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines.

Ainley was president of Perry County Bank from June 1989 through March 1994. A man who answered his home telephone today hung up the phone on a reporter seeking comment.

Ainley is the fifth person to face charges so far in the broad investigation of Arkansas business dealings that has come to be known by the name of President and Hillary Clinton’s Whitewater real estate venture.

The other four have pleaded guilty to charges under agreements with Whitewater prosecutors.