HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — Peoples Bank of Northern Kentucky, trying to move forward despite being tied to a financial fiasco with an Edgewood home builder, opened its first Campbell County branch Friday.

        The branch, just south of Northern Kentucky University on U.S. 27, is No.8 for the $209 million-asset bank serving Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.

        The opening comes as Crestview Hills-based Peoples finds itself in a crisis because of its ties to home builder Erpenbeck Co. Erpenbeck is under federal investigation for suspected bank fraud. And Peoples is the target of an investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

        The new branch shows Peoples Bank's desire to try to continue operating business as normal, expand and better serve existing customers and attract new ones, officials said.

        “The business has maintained, despite this problem. We plan to be here for a while,” bank spokesman Joe Bride said. “Though we are victims of Erpenbeck, too, we're going to continue to serve our existing and potential customers the best we can.”

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