BANK BOARD MEMBER INDICTED FOR CONSPIRING WITH
             ATTORNEYS AND REALTORS TO DEFRAUD BANK OF TAUNTON


     BOSTON, Massachusetts -- Donald K. Stern, U.S. Attorney in
Boston, Deborah M. Smith, Director of the New England Bank Fraud
Task Force, and Richard S. Swenson, Special-Agent-in-Charge of the
FBI Boston office, announced today that Raymond A. Tedeschi, 50,
former member of the board of directors of the Bank of Taunton and
the owner of Tedeschi Real Estate Center Inc., was charged with
William O'Neil, 45, Vice President of Tedeschi Real Estate Center,
in a 19-count indictment alleging conspiracy and bank fraud.
     The indictment charges that, to obtain mortgage financing for
real estate transactions between April 1987 and November 1990 and
thereby to profit from real estate commissions and legal fees
associated with the transactions, Tedeschi and O'Neil conspired
with insiders at the Bank of Taunton and with Taunton-area
attorneys and realtors to defraud the Bank of Taunton.  
     The indictment charges that Tedeschi and O'Neil falsely
inflated borrowers' down payments, falsified the borrowers' income
and assets, submitted to the bank false income tax returns, W-2
forms, and paycheck stubs, concealed from the bank secondary
financing,and engaged in other fraud which they told their customers was
"creative financing."  Tedeschi and O'Neil encouraged other
realtors at Tedeschi Real Estate Center to obtain financing for
customers by employing these fraudulent methods, the indictment
alleges.
     According to the indictment, Tedeschi and O'Neil lied to the
Bank of Taunton in this way to get approval for over $2.4 million
in fraudulent loans.  The loans did not meet the bank's lending and
underwriting guidelines, according to the indictment, because the
borrowers had not made a substantial cash down payment which the
bank required to minimize the likelihood of default.
     If convicted, Tedeschi faces a maximum sentence of 205 years
in prison and a $10.7 million fine, and O'Neil faces a maximum
sentence of 80 years in prison and a $4 million fine.
     The charges against Tedeschi and O'Neil bring to five the
number charged in a continuing investigation of fraud against the
Bank of Taunton.  Former Bank of Taunton vice president Michael G.
McSweeney, attorney Virginia Leigh Jones, and realtor John J.
Flanagan have each been charged with related offenses.  Jones and
Flanagan have pleaded guilty to the charges and are awaiting
sentencing.  
     The investigation is being conducted by the New England Bank
Fraud Task Force, which was established in 1991 as part of the
Justice Department's campaign to combat fraud against federally
insured financial institutions.  Members of the task force include
the U.S. Attorneys' offices for each of the six New England states,
the Fraud Section of the Department's Criminal Division, the Civil
and Tax Divisions, the FBI the Internal Revenue Service, and the
Secret Service.
     The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted
by James P. Gillis and Donald C. Lockhart, Fraud Section trial
attorneys who are assigned to the New England Bank Fraud Task
Force.