Seven former officers of a failed Savannah bank, including its ex-president, have been indicted on federal bank fraud charges.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment Friday against Heys McMath III, the former bank president, and other officers of the First National Bank of Savannah.

Prosecutors say they contributed to the bank's 2010 collapse by trying to hide millions of dollars in non-performing loans from regulators and the bank's own board of directors.

The indictment says First National's officers made illegal loans to unqualified applicants to cover interest payments on the bad loans and used false claims to recruit other banks to fund bad loans. Prosecutors say the fraud ultimately cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. more than $90 million.

McMath did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment

Tags: Savannah, bank, bank failure, First National Bank of Savannah