MT. VERNON, Ill. (WJPF) – A former Jefferson County bank executive has pleaded guilty to federal fraud and arson charges.

Richard Pigg, 52, was a vice president and loan officer at Community First Bank of the Heartland in Mount Vernon.  He pleaded guilty Friday to six counts of bank fraud and three counts of arson.

Federal prosecutors say from May 2011 – December 2016, Pigg defrauded his former employer out of more than $600,000 by convincing CFHB customers to buy rental properties in Centralia, Mount Vernon, Murphysboro, and West Frankfort on his behalf through mortgages financed at CFBH.  Without the buyer’s knowledge, Pigg then increased mortgage by thousands of dollars and redirected the excess loan proceeds to his own accounts and to pay his own debts.

In addition to bank fraud, Pigg also pleaded guilty to federal arson charges for burning the Centralia rental property twice—once in January when it was only partly damaged and again in February 2016, this time causing a total loss.  He used the insurance benefits from the fires to pay off the mortgage loan on the property.  Pigg also burned a four-unit rental apartment complex in West Frankfort in January 2016 soon after renewing one insurance policy and less than two weeks after taking out a second insurance policy on the property.