Ameris Bank Loses $79 Million Jury Verdict in Whistleblower Suit
Litigation Loss
Company Background
Ameris Bancorp is the Atlanta-based holding company for Ameris Bank, a state-chartered institution operating 163 financial centers across the Southeast with $28.1 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2026. The company runs several specialty lending and fee-generating businesses alongside its core banking division, including a retail mortgage division, premium finance operation, warehouse lending, and an equipment finance division.
Financially, Ameris has been in a sustained period of strong performance. Net income for the first quarter of 2026 was $110.5 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, with a return on assets of 1.62%. Full-year 2025 net income was $412.2 million, up 15% from 2024. Tangible common equity to tangible assets stood at 11.15% and the CET1 ratio was estimated at 13.0% as of March 31, 2026, both well above regulatory minimums.
The equipment finance division, the business at the center of the lawsuit, contributes fee income disclosed separately in Ameris's financial statements—approximately $9 million per quarter in recent periods—and is part of the banking division segment that generated $88.5 million in net income in Q1 2026.
What Was Disclosed
A federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California returned a verdict on June 12, 2026 against Ameris Bank on all counts in a lawsuit brought by Patrick Byrne, who served as chief executive officer of the bank's equipment finance division from December 2021 through June 2024. The jury awarded Byrne $16.525 million in economic and non-economic damages, plus associated statutory penalties, and approximately $62.9 million in punitive damages.