S&T Bank is a publicly-traded bank with headquarters in Indiana, PA. S&T Bank also has numerous branches. Like any bank, S&T Bank wants you to believe that they are a "good neighbor" and exist to help you. My experience with them has been just the opposite, and anyone who is their customer or plans to become their customer might want to reconsider if this is really a reputable bank to deal with.

Several years ago, I sold a 60-acre housing development, Everview Estates in Ligonier, to Mark McLaughlin, owner of First Security Insurance in Latrobe, PA. He made a couple of annual payments and then stopped, leaving my loan in default and not even paying any interest on the amount owed. Through an oversight, my mortgage that secured the loan was never recorded, but it was valid nevertheless. So if the default went on much longer, I could at least foreclose and get my property back.

But around this time, Mark went to the main office of S&T Bank in Indiana, PA and got a loan for several hundred thousand dollars, using the development as collateral. The loan officer was Bob Salerno. S&T Bank went ahead and recorded their mortgage, knowing that this converted my first mortgage to a second mortgage, behind them. If there are two mortgages on a property, it is not the first one made that takes precedence but the first one that is recorded. They knew about my mortgage and they knew they were screwing me when they did this. Thus if there was ever a foreclosure S&T Bank would get paid off first. THEY DIDN'T CARE HOW THIS PUT MY LOAN AND FINANCIAL HEALTH IN JEOPARDY! I think this was a despicable thing to do. To me it feels like a conspiracy to defraud me of my money. It is as if someone is throwing my money on a pile and burning it. Mark didn't care what he was doing to me, but the bank should have had higher standards. And, as if that wasn't enough, S&T Bank stipulated in the loan agreement that they intended to take 75% of the proceeds from any lot sold, leaving Mark and me to fight over the remaining 25%. This is like kicking a man when he is down or rubbing salt in a wound. I feel that they just thumbed their noses at me as if to say, "Get lost. We are taking over."

Note that Mark had been making regular interest payments to S&T Bank while he was in DEFAULT to me. So if anyone should be getting the bulk of the proceeds from lot sales, it should be me. Does S&T Bank care about people or are they just determined to make as much money as possible, no matter who they hurt? You be the judge. If S&T Bank wanted to invest in this development, the ethical and moral thing to do was to first buy me out and take over my mortgage. Then S&T Bank could have lent additional funds to Mark as needed. But they chose to screw me instead.

Who is responsible for this? The CEO is Todd Brice. He was a member of the management team of S&T Bank when they ran over me. The head of Commercial Lending now is Dave Antolik. And there is also the Bancorp, Inc. Board of Directors. That's who is responsible! Brice makes $425,000 per year! That is more than the president of the United States makes. Maybe that's why he has that big grin on his face. We have all heard how New York banks paid their executives extravagant salaries while they were screwing the public and even while they were getting bailout money. It seems that the same thing is happening closer to home. Why would the head of a small chain of banks be gettting that kind of income? That's probably a story in itself that needs looking into. I wonder how many other unethical deals are made to support such an extravagant salary.

Todd Brice is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Indiana Regional Medical Center. Does he bring his brand of business ethics to that job also?

And as if that isn't enough, he is also on the Board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Pittsburgh Branch. Well, we all know what kind of ethics we find in our federal government so maybe he feels at home there.

On 11/1/10, a complaint was filed with the Pittsburgh Better Business Bureau to make public what Todd Brice and S&T Bank have done:

S&T Bank's commercial loan department made a loan a few years ago to the housing development, Everview Estates in Ligonier, knowing that in so doing they would undermine the mortgage interest in the property that was held by the International Myopia Prevention Assn. Now, hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment money is at risk and may be lost forever. This is especially sickening since the International Myopia Prevention Assn. is a charitble organization dedicated to helping children with defective vision. The bank and its CEO Todd Brice have not responded to our complaint. The whole story is now on the Internet at www.myopia.org/S&T_Bank.

Most people in this country are religious and say they live by the golden rule -- treat others as you would want to be treated. Do you think that was considered when they screwed me? How do such people say their evening prayers? Maybe something like, "Lord, I sinned today. I screwed a guy out his life's savings and retirement income. But I know you'll forgive me -- it's just business as usual."

And after doing this damage, it wasn't long before S&T Bank unilaterally changed the loan conditions to benefit themselves to such an extent that Mark was forced to find another bank to take over the loan. Indiana First Bank then lent him money so that S&T Bank could be paid off. Naturally, Indiana First Bank continued with the 75% claim on proceeds that was in effect. I don't fault them for this because it was S&T Bank that started it.

I claim that the officers of S&T Bank conspired to take over the income from Everview lot sales for their own financial gain at my expense. They pushed me aside and made themselves the principal investor.

Is S&T Bank the kind of bank you want to do business with? How would YOU feel if someone treated you in this fashion? How would the CEO of S&T Bank feel? Probably as outraged as I am. I have dealt for many years with First Commonwealth Bank, also headquarted in Indiana, PA. They have proven to be ethical in every way. If you choose to switch your business to them, tell them why I referred you.

We all know how Wall Street and the big banks destroyed our economy and many lives with their incredible greed and unethical behavior. The people who ran those firms should be in jail along with Bernie Madoff. Shouldn't we expect something better from our local banks? My experience has shown me that you cannot be certain of getting any better treatment locally.

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