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EXHIBIT 99.1
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
WAYNE H. BENSON
President & Chief Executive Officer
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
618-395-8676
Olney, Illinois, October 3, 2000, Community Financial Corp.
(NASDAQ: CFIC).....Wayne H. Benson, President and CEO of Community
Financial Corp., announced today that the Company had received
indications of interest in the purchase of one or more Illinois
subsidiary banks. The indications of interest were received after the
Company's investment banker, Professional Bank Services, Incorporated,
solicited them. The subsidiary banks of the Company consist of
MidAmerica Bank of St. Clair County with total assets of $29.6 million
located in O'Fallon, American Bank of Illinois with total assets of
$30.7 million located in Highland, and a branch in Pocahontas, Egyptian
State Bank with total assets of $39.7 million located in Carrier Mills,
with branches in Creal Springs and Stonefort, and Community Bank & Trust
with total assets of $196.1 million located in Olney with branches in
Lawrenceville, Fairfield, Newton, and Charleston. A definitive
agreement has not been entered regarding any sale at this time.
In a separate matter, the Company reported that a loan customer
had been indicted by a federal grand jury as a participant in a multi-
million dollar fraud scheme known as Omega Trust and Trading, Ltd. Part
of the scheme alleged the use of the proceeds to invest in otherwise
legitimate business which, in many cases, was partially financed with
borrowed funds. The scheme included the sale of units in an alleged
"off shore trading program". Units were priced at $100 a piece. The
Company believes that during 1999, the proceeds of a number of the
purchases were deposited in several financial institutions, including
one owned by the Company. Following the indictment, a protective order
was issued in an attempt by the government to recover properties
purchased with the proceeds of the investment scheme. In the event the
collateral is seized and the government is successful in its forfeiture,
the Company anticipates sustaining a pretax loss of $1.5 million.
Community Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for
Community Bank & Trust, N.A., American Bank of Illinois, Egyptian State
Bank, and MidAmerica Bank of St. Clair County.
