BANKING

Independence Bank Sues Top Executives: Encino-based Independence Bank filed a $42-million federal racketeering suit against its owner and a former executive, alleging that they were fronts for the scandal-plagued Bank of Credit & Commerce International. The suit contends that Independence Bank owner Ghaith Pharaon has a secret “nominee agreement” with BCCI under which Pharaon owns only 15% of the bank, with the rest owned by a BCCI-related firm. It also alleges that Kemal Shoaib, chairman and chief executive of Independence from 1986 to 1989, allegedly ran the bank for BCCI and mismanaged it, approving bad loans.