CHICAGO – A real estate developer has been sentenced to six years in prison for participating in a conspiracy that embezzled millions of dollars from the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago.

Miroslaw Krejza was part of a group that took funds from Washington Federal, which was based in the Bridgeport neighborhood and was shut down in 2017 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined that the bank was insolvent and had at least $66 million in nonperforming loans.

The embezzled funds were disguised as real estate development loan disbursements to Krejza and others.

Conspirators were not required to repay the loans, and they never did.

In 2023, a federal jury convicted Krejza, 67, of Chicago, of conspiring to commit embezzlement and falsify bank records, and aiding and abetting embezzlement by bank employees.

On Tuesday,, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall sentenced Krejza to six years and eight months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $2 million in restitution.

The federal investigation into the collapse of Washington Federal led to criminal charges against 16 defendants, including the bank’s chief financial officer, treasurer and other high-ranking employees, for conspiring to embezzle at least $31 million in bank funds.

Krejza and three others were convicted after jury trials, while 10 defendants pleaded guilty and two entered into deferred prosecution agreements.

Much of the embezzled money was transferred to Chicago attorney Robert Kowalski, real estate developer Marek Matczuk and other individuals outside the bank without all the required documentation, and often without any documentation whatsoever.

A jury convicted Kowalski on bankruptcy fraud, bank embezzlement,and tax charges, while Matczuk was convicted of conspiring to commit embezzlement and falsify bank records, as well as aiding and abetting embezzlement by bank employees.

Last year, Judge Kendall sentenced Kowalski to 25 years in federal prison and Matczuk to nearly 13 years.

Kowalski’s sister, Jan, also an attorney, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than three years in prison for fraudulently enabling her brother to conceal more than $357,000 from creditors and the trustees in his bankruptcy case.

Three former members of Washington Federal’s Board of Directors pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify bank records to deceive the OCC. William Mahon was sentenced to 18 months in prison; George Kozdemba was sentenced to a year in prison; and Janice Weston was sentenced to three months in prison.