OGDEN -- Vincent Dull has been around 92 years, so Centennial Bank's crashing with his money inside was not his first brush with bank failure.
This time he got his money back. Thursday's mail brought three checks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The first time Dull was hit by bank failures, during the Great Depression, his entire savings disappeared.
Centennial Bank, headquartered in Ogden, was shut down March 5.
The Utah Division of Financial Institutions said Centennial failed to complete a joint venture with Vision Bankcard in Orem, was insolvent and had to be closed to stop further losses.
The FDIC is mailing money to everyone who had insured accounts there, up to the limit of $250,000.
Dull, of Uintah Highlands, said that's a huge improvement over his first bank failure.
"When I was in grade school, I had a job (with) Curtis Publishing Company," selling copies of the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies' Home Journal, he said.
"And I had a newspaper job," selling papers.
Dull saved up, but "my parents wouldn't keep it, so I had an account in Pan American Bank in Los Angeles. I don't know, it was $10 or $15, my total investment, and they went broke."
Because the FDIC did not exist then, Dull lost it all.
"For a youngster, that really impresses you," he said.
Dull is glad to have his money back this time around, but he is still shaking his head over a Centennial Bank letter he received in Wednesday's mail.
That letter, dated Feb. 28, five days before the bank was closed, included his usual bank statement and a cheery note saying the bank's future was looking bright.
It reads: "Our joint venture with Vision Bankcard is in the final stages of approval. Centennial Bank will be well capitalized and you will soon have access to exciting new services from this leading e-commerce company."
The wording of that letter matches posters at Centennial Bank's main office, 4605 Harrison Blvd., Ogden, on display when the FDIC and a swarm of Utah Highway Patrol officers took possession March 5.
The biggest type on the posters read "bright future."
One of the first things FDIC officials did was take down the posters.
Officials from Centennial Bank and Vision Bankcard, headquartered in Orem, have either failed to return calls or declined to comment since the closure took place.
Paul Allred, deputy commissioner for the State Department of Financial Institutions, said he couldn't say if there was anything improper about Centennial Bank sending out letters saying things looked good.
He said Centennial had no idea the closure was coming and repeated what he said last week, that the joint venture was never close to being approved.
Federal financial regulations govern what "forward-looking statements" from publicly traded companies can say.
Centennial Bank is privately held, and the letter and posters never actually state the deal had closed.
Allred said he can only assume Centennial Banks owners "were being optimistic."
Officials of the Department of Financial Institutions was watching Centennial, waiting to see if the deal could be closed in time, he said.
"In this case, the bank was insolvent. We had to decide, 'How long can the bank continue in that condition?' "
The state decided it couldn't wait any longer than March 5.
"That was a decision made by the department, through the commissioner," Allred said.
"The commissioner decided when to take action and take possession of the bank."
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