TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) A former branch manager for First South Farm Credit in Northport has been charged in connection with what authorities describe as a nearly $2 million lending fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said Tuesday that 36-year-old Gregory T. Smith of Tuscaloosa is accused of creating fake mortgage documents and forging signatures of First South customers on loan documents.

Vance’s office says Smith is also accused of falsifying loan title policies, using the names of existing Farm Credit customers to create false new loans and manufacturing additional false notes to existing loan files.

Smith was the branch manager of First South, a financial institution regulated by the Farm Credit Association. The charges say he defrauded First South of about $1,894,043 between 2007 and 2010.