Ga. banker missing - and so is $17 million

(CBS/AP) AILEY, Ga. -- A South Georgia bank closed by federal regulators has a missing board member who's accused of millions in fraud.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it seized Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey on Friday. The U.S. attorney's office said missing director Aubrey Lee Price, 46, has been charged with wire fraud involving the embezzlement of $17 million from the bank. Price controlled the bank's investments before disappearing last month. He was last seen on a ferry leaving Key West, Florida, for Fort Myers.

"According to the complaint charging him with wire fraud, defendant Aubrey Lee Price disappeared after telling acquaintances that he had lost a large amount of money through trading activities and that he planned to kill himself," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement released last week.

If proven guilty, Price could face up to 30 years in prison.

The FDIC said Montgomery Bank was acquired by Moultrie-based Ameris Bank and its two branches will reopen Monday. Ameris is assuming all of the bank's $164 million in deposits and the FDIC is retaining the bulk of the failed bank's $173 million in assets.

The public is being urged to contact the FBI with any information at (212) 384-1000, or at ny1@ic.fbi.gov.