CHICAGO (Bloomberg) - A former ABN Amro Holding NV executive who oversaw security systems accepted $400,000 in bribes for steering contracts to a firm that overbilled the bank by $45 million, the US Justice Department said.

George Konjuch, 54, of Des Plaines, Illinois, was charged with bank fraud, bank bribery and income tax fraud for helping security firm Navarette Industries Inc. defraud Amsterdam-based ABN and its former LaSalle Bank unit, according to a statement today by Chicago US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Navarette principal Armando Navarette, 45, of Bloomingdale, Illinois, also was charged with bank fraud, bank bribery and illegally structuring monetary transactions.

Mr. Navarette and his firm, "charged what they and Mr. Konjuch knew were substantially above-market prices for preventative maintenance on security equipment and other services rendered to LaSalle Bank," Mr. Fitzgerald said.

LaSalle Bank was acquired from ABN Amro by Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion, in a transaction completed in October. The fraud scheme ran from 2001 into September 2006, said Mr. Fitzgerald.

The government "has not acknowledged legitimate work," Navarette's lawyer, Ronald Smith, said this morning after his client made an initial appearance before US Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier in Chicago's federal court.

Mr. Navarette's company had been in charge of security for LaSalle throughout the state of Illinois, his lawyer said. Mr. Smith also said Mr. Konjuch abused his position at the bank by demanding money from Navarette in exchange for the bank's continued use of his company.

Calls to ABN Amro seeking comment were referred to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America. "We cooperated fully with the authorities," Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Bank of America, said in a telephone interview.

Mr. Konjuch is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Schenkier tomorrow, said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald.

Mr. Konjuch's lawyer, Raymond Cisco of Oak Brook, Illinois, did not return calls seeking comment. Mr. Navarette is being held pending a bail hearing set for December 7.