Within the Wichita courtroom, Hanes supplied his solely public reflection on the financial institution collapse. Carrying a grey go well with, he walked as much as the lectern, glancing nervously at his former buddies within the gallery. “I’m sorry,” he informed the choose. Till the very finish, he defined, he thought he was concerned in a reliable enterprise deal. In January 2024, he informed the court docket, he made a futile try and recoup the misplaced cash, flying to Perth, Australia, the place a few of his nonexistent enterprise companions had supposedly been primarily based. He was in contact with them till the second he landed on the airport. However no bailout materialized. It was solely then, months after the financial institution shuttered, that he accepted he had been tricked. “I’ll ceaselessly battle understanding how I used to be duped,” Hanes mentioned. “I ought to have caught it, however I didn’t.”
After Hanes completed talking, Decide Broomes rocked backward in his chair and turned to face the shareholders. “One of the best factor for you is to forgive this man,” he mentioned. “Go away issues of retribution to me. That’s my job, and I’ll see that it’s carried out.” He sentenced Hanes to 24 years and 5 months in jail, a punishment even larger than federal prosecutors had requested. A refrain of yeses echoed from the shareholders.
Hanes’s shoulders slumped. As two U.S. marshals approached him, he undid his tie, slipped off his go well with jacket and emptied his pockets. Behind him, the shareholders went quiet. Hanes’ sister and one in every of his daughters clung to one another, their sobs breaking the silence. Hanes checked out them as soon as, shortly, earlier than the marshals handcuffed him and led him out of the room.
At some point final October, Tucker obtained a name from an investigator on the F.B.I. It was excellent news: Federal officers had recovered $8 million of the stolen funds, which had been hidden in an account filled with Tether, a preferred cryptocurrency. The stash was a small fraction of what Hanes stole, however it could be sufficient to reimburse the shareholders for almost all the cash they’d invested within the financial institution.
The jubilation Tucker may need anticipated to really feel was tempered by unhappiness. His father had been out and in of the hospital, and a health care provider warned that he had solely days left to stay. That evening, Tucker went to his father’s hospital room and shared what he had heard. Invoice Tucker blinked a couple of occasions after which mentioned, “Oh, my.” He died every week later.