IS YOUR EMPLOYER ASKING YOU TO PERFORM UNETHICAL TASKS?
I will provide a free listening ear.
I don’t ever want anyone to be in the position I was in.
(this is not legal advice)
About Me
I am James Crotty, and this is part of my story.
From 1998 to 2018, I had a career in banking. I worked at five different banks.
In 1998, when I was 18 years old, I started my career as a teller. In 2001, I was promoted to Teller Operations Manager, and in 2002, I was promoted to Branch Manager. From 2002 to 2007, I served as a Branch Manager at two different banks.
In September 2006, I married my beautiful wife and wanted to work Monday through Friday to match her work schedule. I blindly faxed my resume (don't laugh) to several banks and landed an interview with Washington Federal Bank. I was hired as Vice President/Branch Manager of the bank’s Taylor Street branch.
In 2009, I was asked by the CEO to work at the main location to assist in lending. I dropped my Branch Manager title and my title was just “Vice President.” I had no background in lending and thought it was a great opportunity to learn something new. But shortly after starting the position, things began to shift.
I was a 31-year-old with no lending experience, ready to jump in, and I expected the CEO to train me. Excited to be in a new role, I put together a pitch for the bank to co-brand a credit card, where the bank would revenue share interest income with absolutely zero liability on the card balances. This idea was immediately shut down by the CEO. I was discouraged. I thought this would have been a way to show my commitment to the new position. In hindsight, that moment should have been a red flag. But I picked my head up and moved on.
I quickly learned that the CEO dictated everything at the bank. I thought he was simply passionate about the business and his role. The bank was run by a majority of family members and had been passed down through generations. I assumed this was just how things were supposed to be.
Fast forward to 2010, when the CEO began explicitly telling me what to do and how to do it. I followed his instructions — and I take full responsibility for my actions. However, I want to be very clear: I did not plot with him to run a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme. I didn’t even have access to the system that tracked loan balances — another red flag I should have noticed.
The tasks he assigned to me, the “opportunities” he presented, would eventually come back to bite me. But in my mind, he was the CEO, and this was his family’s bank. Why would I question his orders? Why would anyone intentionally jeopardize or destroy something that had taken generations to build?
This is just the beginning of my story — a story I need to tell to clear up misconceptions, “truth-stretching,” and outright lies. Don’t believe everything you read in the paper. I did wrong, but I did not do what has been portrayed.
I’ve come to realize that sometimes you have to tell the truth yourself. Fictional stories and hearsay can be juicy but the truth is better. I never knew of his scheme and I was not his “pet.” I never got a penny beyond my salary. No cars. No homes below-market value. No kickbacks. No financed businesses. Nothing.
I never knew just how deep it really was.
The whole truth will be told — in time.
I want everyone to hear this: when an “opportunity” is presented to you, question it. Keep questioning until you can’t question anymore. Reach out to someone when you feel that churning in your gut. I didn’t want to look like someone who cried wolf, because I was repeatedly told: “It’s not a big deal,” or, “It’s my problem, I’m fixing it.”
I learned the hard way — this is no longer “his” problem.
I am the one facing the consequences.
I own what I did.
I want to set the record straight.
I want to help others who are in similar situations.
I will be that listening ear when you feel like you have nowhere to turn.
”And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” -Haruki Murakami