Federal Regulators Close Kiffmeyer Bank

State Representative and staunch "fiscal conservative" Mary Kiffmeyer's bank was closed and sold by Federal regulators. Her bank failure cost taxpayers $20 million.

Problems were initially reported in June of this past year.

Former Secretary of State, Mary Kiffmeyer, who used the phrase "Integrity Counts" as her campaign slogan and embraces a limited role of government. So its a little ironic that the feds had to shut her bank down.

This little bit from the Strib story really caught my eye...

Early in its life, Riverview had a reputation for mixing faith and finance. Chuck Ripka, one of the bank's founders, once told the Star Tribune that God spoke to him and said, "Chuck, if you pastor the bank, I'll take care of the bottom line." Ripka and his staff would pray with customers in the bank's Otsego branch and even at the drive-up window. In a 2004 New York Times story, Ripka said he occasionally slipped up and said, "Come on over to the church -- I mean the bank."

Faith is a great thing. Feeding off of one's faith to push people to your bank is sad and wrong...especially when "Integrity Counts".