The former CEO of Crown Bank used accounts belonging to the bank to cover his personal debts and abused his position to avoid paying creditors, according to charges filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota Thursday.

Peter Earl Dahl faces charges of wire fraud and filing false income tax returns. From 2012 to 2017, Dahl orchestrated a scheme to defraud the bank, repeatedly conducting transactions involving funds and credits of Crown "for his own purposes," according to the charges.

Dahl defrauded prospective investors in the bank's holding company, Crown Bankshares, by withholding information or spreading lies. In one case, he told prospective investors he was negotiating a merger with another bank, though no such deal was in the works, according to the charges.

Dahl is set to appear in court later this month.

Dahl, a son-in-law of Crown founder Thomas Healey, led the bank for years before he resigned for unspecified reasons. In late 2017, Dahl signed a consent order by federal regulators effectively barring him from the banking industry. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said an investigation found reason to believe that Dahl engaged in unsound practices that brought him financial gain. Under the order, Dahl did not admit or deny any violations of law or allegations of wrongdoing.

ANDY MANNIX