The Latest Breaking News from John Gembara

Some customers are still paying the price for corruption at failed Bridgeport bank

Customers who trusted the crooked bank to do the right thing are still out up to $312,000 each, as the latest story in the Sun-Times investigative series shows.

Chicago Sun-Times · Oct 18, 2023

Bridgeport bank failure fallout sees owner of home where bank CEO died found guilty of embezzling $6 million

Marek Matczuk, who said he did odd jobs for Washington Federal Bank for Savings and its employees, was given the money on orders of the late bank chief John F. Gembara.

Chicago Sun-Times · Sep 22, 2023

Bridgeport bank failure fallout: Dead CEO’s sister pleads guilty in collapse of Washington Federal Bank for Savings

Over seven years, Janice Weston, vice president of the board of the clout-heavy bank, ordered bank employees to fool federal regulators by backdating loan documents.

Chicago Sun-Times · Aug 2, 2023

Dead CEO of failed Bridgeport bank in the spotlight as embezzlement trial begins

John F. Gembara, the late boss of Washington Federal Bank for Savings, schemed with attorney Robert M. Kowalski, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday. Representing himself, Kowalski blamed Gembara.

Chicago Sun-Times · Feb 14, 2023

New revelations in Bridgeport bank failure case: CEO’s wife told police of ‘illegal activity’ 5 years before shutdown

Five years before Washington Federal Bank for Savings was ordered closed because of massive fraud, CEO John F. Gembara’s wife told police she planned to call the FBI on her husband, newly obtained records show.

Chicago Sun-Times · May 27, 2022

Desperate for loans, Patrick Daley Thompson put hundreds of thousands in campaign cash in crooked Bridgeport bank

Documents subpoenaed by prosecutors and other public records reflect a growing desperation as he tried to quadruple the amount of money he was borrowing from Washington Federal Bank for Savings.

Chicago Sun-Times · Feb 25, 2022

Monday trial opening set for Alderman Patrick Daley Thompson, the only Daley to face federal charges

CHICAGO — The list of political heavyweights to face criminal prosecution at Chicago’s federal courthouse is dismally long and peppered with names such as Ryan, Blagojevich, Cellini, Vrdolyak, and Burke.

Chicago Tribune · Feb 5, 2022

Trial imminent for Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, the only Daley to face federal charges

CHICAGO — The list of political heavyweights to face criminal prosecution at Chicago’s federal courthouse is dismally long and peppered with names such as Ryan, Blagojevich, Cellini, Vrdolyak, and Burke.

Chicago Tribune · Feb 4, 2022

A Daley goes on trial, writing a new chapter in Chicago history

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson’s tax fraud case opens Monday. He’ll be the first from Chicago’s Daley political family to face trial and the first sitting Chicago City Council member on trial in more than two decades.

Chicago Sun-Times · Feb 4, 2022

Another potential witness against Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson pleads guilty

Cathy Torres’ name appears on a list of potential prosecution witnesses for Thompson’s federal tax trial, which is set for Feb. 4. The feds say Torres communicated with Thompson about his loan at Washington Federal and attempts to refinance there.

Chicago Sun-Times · Jan 27, 2022