Joseph Villante, age 47, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged today by information with bank bribery, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The information charges that from approximately January through June 2006, Villante, a vice president and relationship manager at Republic First Bank, solicited approximately $110,000 from a bank customer as a reward for assisting the customer in obtaining two loans from the bank.

If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Judy G. Smith.