Former executives, including former President Anthony Atkins, of Destin, Fla.-based GulfSouth Private Bank were charged with a seven-count indictment charging them with a number of crimes, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Along with Atkins, Samuel Cobb, former vice president of the bank, was charged with making false statements to a federally insured financial institution, bank fraud and mail fraud affecting a financial institution.

The scheme employed by the defendants was to conceal that the bank had mortgage loans in default and submitting related fraudulent security agreements.

GulfSouth failed in October 2012, with Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based SmartFinancial Inc. unit SmartBank agreeing to assume all of the deposits and purchase essentially all of the assets of the failed bank through an FDIC-facilitated deal.