| Stephen Calk
Convicted of Manafort Loans in 2021 Now
Applies to Fed So Challenged
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast 2 3 5
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 23 – After months of preliminaries,
the trial of Stephen Calk for
conspiracy to trade his bank's
loans to Paul Manafort for the
Secretary of the Army position
began. Inner City Press live
tweeted, here,
previous coverage here,
podcast here
After mere
hours, the jury found him
guilty. Inner City Press
verdict tweet here; in front
of 40 Foley Square, Calk
refused questions (including
on his bank and desire of UN
Ambassador position) and was
whisked off in a black car.
Video here.
Sentencing was set. Podcast here.
Jump cut to
January 2026 when this
appeared on the Federal
Reserve's website:
"The Stephen M.
Calk 2025 Trust, Houston,
Texas; to
become a savings and loan
holding company by acquiring
National Bancorp Holdings,
Inc., and thereby indirectly
acquiring The Federal Savings
Bank, both of Chicago,
Illinois.
10 Chicago"
Can a
convicted felon be part of the
ownership structure of an FDIC
insured bank? Does it being a
trust change anything?
The
Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago does not list an email
address to request information
or copies of applications.
They should just be put on the
Internet, Fair Finance Watch
and Inner City Press suggested
- and emailed 4 af FRBChi
Days
later, a portion of the
application was provided.
Surprised, FFW filed this:
This is a first
timely comment opposing the
application by The Stephen M.
Calk 2025 Trust...
Stephen
Calk was indicted for, and in
July 2021 was convicted of
financial institution bribery
and conspiracy to commit
financial institution bribery.
In the understanding of many,
the conviction - or even
before, given the evidence -
would have led to an order of
prohibition.
But after
waiting some time for a copy
of the "public' portion of the
application, we learn of a
September 2023 letter from the
Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago to Mr. Calk, with
heavy redactions - and now in
2026 this application, which
we are
opposing.
For the record, this FOIA
request has been submitted
through the Fed's FOIA
portal:
"This is a FOIA
request for all withheld
portions of the pending
application by the Stephen M.
Calk Trust re The Federal
Savings Bank - given the
Mr. Calk was convicted of
financial institution bribery
and conspiracy to commit
financial institution bribery
in July 2021, the redactions
to page 2 of the FRB of
Chicago's September 5, 2023
letter to Calk are
inappropriate, as are the
other redactions to and
withholdings from the
regulations.
Given the irregularities here
- including a felon being
allowed to retain ownership
since July 2021 of a financial
institution, and being
considering to continue
ownership through a trustee
who is already on the board of
directors of another bank,
Customers Bank, this is also a
FOIA request for all FRS
records concerning Mr. Calk
and The Federal Savings Bank
since May 2019 when the case
resulting in the felony
conviction was indicted by the
grand jury. Response
should be expedited as the
application's comment period
is set to expire on February
9."
We will comment more once the
needed documents are
provided.
Also, for
the record, Fair Finance
Watch has been monitoring The
Federal Saving Bank and finds
that in 2025 in Illinois it
made 759 mortgage loans to
whites while denying only 86
applications from whites,
while making only 98 loans to
African Americans and denying
fully 27 applications from
African
Americans.
This is disparate.
In New York State
in 2024, The Federal Savings
bank made 332 mortgage loans
to whites while denying only
62 applications from whites,
while making only 154 loans to
African Americans and denying
fully 19 applications from
African
Americans.
Nationwide in
2024 The Federal Savings Bank
made 4285 mortgage loans to
whites while denying only 760
applications from whites,
while making only 934 loans to
African Americans and denying
fully 239 applications from
African Americans. This
is
disparate.
Finally, for now,
while not conceding that this
belated trusteeship structure
would comply with the law and
good policy, the proposed
trustee is listed on the board
of directors of another bank,
Consumers Bank - we will have
more on this when the
documents, requested the day
after the FRB of Chicago
belatedly provided us the
public portion of the
application, are
provided.
The
application should not be
approved
On February
7, 2022 Calk was sentenced to
a year and a day - but got
bail pending appeal.
Two years later,
with Calk still not in prison,
on February 22, 2024 his
lawyers wrote in. Letter on
Patreon here.
On March 4, Judge
Schofield denied Calk's
motion, and set a surrender
date: "ORDERED that Defendant
shall surrender for service of
sentence at the institution
designated by the Bureau of
Prisons by 2:00 P.M. on April
18, 2024.
On December 2,
2025 Calk's counsel wrote in
asking to eliminate the last
year of supervised release,
saying the US Attorney has no
objection.
And on December
9, it was granted: "as to
Stephen M. Calk, Application
Granted. Defendant Calk's term
of supervision is terminated
effective today.(Signed by
Judge Lorna G. Schofield on
12/9/2025)."
The case is US v. Calk, 19-cr-366
(Schofield)
***
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