Evolve Bank CEO fired propositioning FBI agent who posed as teen boy
Booking photo of Evolve Bank CEO Bob Hartheimer.
Source: Shelby County Jail
Bob Hartheimer, CEO of Evolve Bank & Trust in Tennessee, was fired after U.S. law enforcement officials caught him propositioning a law enforcement officer posing as a 15-year-old boy on the gay dating app Grindr.
On October 19, an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation logged in. Grinder According to an affidavit from a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation unsealed Tuesday, a user named “Tomm” pretended to be a teenage boy and asked the person, “Hey, any chance you could be with a guy who’s older and cooler than me?” He wrote a message saying:
The two discussed meeting in person later in the week, according to the affidavit. Open on SnapchatThey talked about sex acts they could perform. “Tomm” requested a photo of the “boy” without his shorts and also sent the undercover agent a nude photo of himself. The FBI managed to obtain an IP address for “Tomm” from Snapchat, as well as an address from: comcastshowed the declaration.
Pursuant to an arrest warrant, Hartheimer was arrested in Memphis on Oct. 23 on charges of attempting to produce child pornography and transferring obscene material to a minor.
Blake Ballin, an attorney representing Hartheimer, told CNBC on Saturday that Evolve fired the CEO.
“Bob’s family is aware of the accusations,” Ballin wrote in an email. “His family loves and supports him and requests privacy during this difficult time in their lives. We have no further comment at this time.”
Wall StreetJournal It was reported Friday that Hartheimer had been fired from Evolve Bank. The bank did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Last year, Evolve was dragged into the bankruptcy of financial technology startup Synapse; This resulted in loss of access to a system that handles transactions and account details. Fintech apps like Yotta have worked with Evolve and other banks, and Synapse has served as a middleman.
Synapse’s method of keeping app users’ money at various banks, including Evolve, created accounting problems and up to $96 million in deposits disappeared. Thousands of Americans lost money, CNBC reported.
In 2024, Evolve also suffered a cyberattack in which hackers seized customer information and demanded a ransom. Bank in question He did not pay any ransom and the data was eventually published online.
Founded in August 1925, Evolve named Hartheimer He will replace CEO Scott Stafford, who retired after joining the bank in 2004.
“This is a structural change that demonstrates our commitment to doing the hard work to regain the trust of our customers, employees, regulators and investors,” Evolve said.
When he was hired, the bank touted Hartheimer’s experience as manager of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Decisions Division, as well as his years as a regulatory advisor to fintech companies.
“Over the past four decades, I have led, turned around, and advised institutions in the financial world,” Hartheimer wrote. LinkedIn profile.
The bank reported a net loss in each of the first three quarters of 2025 after being profitable since 2003, according to data on file with the Federal Financial Institutions Review Council.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Hugh Son contributed reporting.
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