March 19, 2024

Latham investment repays portion of bailout funds

DES MOINES (AP) — A bank holding company in which U.S. Rep. Tom Latham is an investor has repaid a portion of the $2.4 million it took as part of the federal government’s 2008 bank bailout program.

Green Circle Investments, a holding company for Peoples Trust & Savings Bank of Clive, made an $800,000 payment eight days after the Nov. 6 election.

The Des Moines Register reported the company took money through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The newspaper said Tuesday the repayment was posted by the independent investigative journalism group ProPublica.

The bailout was a campaign issue between Latham, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a Democrat.

Boswell ran television ads criticizing Latham for investing in a company that accepted bailout money while publicly chastising the TARP program.

Latham defeated Boswell.