Heartland Tri-State Bank is the financial backbone of Elkhart, Kansas, a town of just 1,900 people, and trust was everything. That trust fell apart in July 2023 when bank president Shan Haynes poured $47.1 million into the code. The bank has collapsed. The town was left with financial ruin. And residents are still looking for answers.
State and federal investigators say Haynes has been a victim of an elaborate code fraud, often referred to as pig slaughter. However, this took away not only the personal downfall of Hannes, but the economic security of the entire town.
Bank Chairman stole millions to chase cryptocurrency wealth
A respected businessman and part-time preacher, Haynes has been running Heartland since 2008. The bank was community-owned and had around 35 local investors, including Haynes, whose father found Heartland in 1984, and farmer Jim Tucker. The Elkhart ruled it, and profits remained within the town.
That changed in December 2022 when a woman messaged Hayne on social media while calling her Bella. She persuaded him to start investing by telling him that her aunt runs a crypto investment company in Australia. By May 2023, Haynes had already exhausted his personal savings and received $60,000 from his daughter’s College Fund. That wasn’t enough.
The scam escalated. Haynes began stealing from the bank. On May 11, 2023, he wired $3 million from his Heartland account to Kraken, a US-based crypto exchange. By June 2023, he had leaked $31 million from the bank into his crypto portfolio. He told his colleagues that the money was for clients, but there was no monitoring, approval or document in the transfer.
He stood up against him at the board meeting in July when investors near Haynes turned Tucker over. Haynes said he has the confidence of his usual salesman and has plans. He needed a board to approve a $18 million loan to “recover the money.”
“Shan, I don’t even know who you are now,” Tucker told him. “I don’t believe anything you said.”
By then it was already too late.
Regulators have closed Heartland, FBI investigates
The words spread quickly. Local businessman Brian Mitchell was one of the first outside the bank to hear the story. Haynes was approaching him and was seeking $12 million on an offshore trading platform to help unfreeze the so-called $40 million crypto holdings. Mitchell refused.
“Shan, I think you’re cheating,” he said. Haynes hadn’t heard. That same day he wired another $8 million.
By the end of July 2023, Kansas regulators were inside Hartland’s offices. The bank was insolvent. On July 28th, Kansas banking committee member David Herndon stood in the Heartland lobby and told employees it was over.
The new bank will dream first and take over the account on Monday morning. The depositors were protected, but the investors lost everything. Bank stocks lost value overnight. Retirement funds, life savings, generational wealth – origin.
On the same day, the agent removed the security camera, dismantled the computer, and loaded it into a black SUV parked outside. Federal officials told shareholders that the money had disappeared into an untraceable crypto wallet.
The collapse destroyed the Elkheart. Two tellers openly wept at their desks as staff closed the bank. Tucker’s father, who was building the bank, had to sign the officially terminated document.
“I just watch it melt,” Tucker said later. “It burns right in front of me, on the ground.”
Haynes was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison
The case moved quickly. Haynes pleaded guilty to embezzlement and was sentenced in August 2024. In a federal court in Wichita, former Hartland shareholders sat in the gallery awaiting the judge’s decision.
Haynes’ defense attorney, John Stang, said his client was manipulated. “I’m continuing to listen to the questions,” Stang told the judge. “Was it greedy? Was it easy to be fooled? Apparently, he wasn’t intelligent enough.”
Haynes himself spoke, his voice shaking. “I’ll have forever struggle to understand how I was fooled,” he told the court. He even admitted to travelling to Australia in January 2024, but still believed he could get his money back. No one saw him at the airport.
Judge John W. Blooms was not sympathetic. “The best thing for you is to forgive this guy,” he told shareholders. “Leave me the issue of retaliation. That’s my job, and I will see it’s over.”
He was then sentenced to Hennes at 24 years and five months in federal prison for longer than the prosecutors had requested.
The silent ripples of Jesus passed through the courtroom. Haynes’s sisters and daughter sobbed as they were taken away in handcuffs.
One shareholder stood up and spoke. “If he was released the day he died, it would be a day too early.”
Elkhart still sways and Town Trust has been destroyed
A few months later, investigators recovered $8 million in hidden gems in Tether, a popular stub coin. It was only a small portion of the money stolen, but it was enough to partially refund the investors.
When Tucker heard the news, he rushed to his father’s hospital bed. The old man was so weak that he blinked too much to speak. “Ah, me,” he said softly. He passed away a week later.
Elkheart is not progressing. The Heartland building is still standing, but its sign has been stripped. The new owner has not replaced it. It is just an empty brick façade and symbolizes what the town has lost.
Haynes may have been a victim of crypto fraud, but his victim was his own neighbor. Many people lost everything.
Tucker is still passing the bank, but still thinking about what happened.
“Broken trust,” he says, and his voice is kicked out. “That one stab wound.”
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