Camner's payout required regulatory approval. When BankUnited submitted the agreement to the OTS and FDIC, the feds sat on it. He never got paid. ''The OTS did not render a final decision on the BankUnited request regarding Mr. Camner,'' said an agency spokesman.

His daughter, Lauren, resigned as senior vice president and director the same day as her dad. She too had ironed out a severance agreement. Regulators OKed a reduced amount.

The board promoted Ortiz to CEO.

With the bank's outlook darkening by the day, board members grew worried. The independent directors hired their own legal counsel. The bank bought a $10-million directors and officers liability insurance policy from Lloyds of London to top an existing $20-million policy.

''If BankUnited didn't have good D&O insurance, half the directors would have resigned,'' said director Jacobson.

The board's key focus was finding fresh capital.

The Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, was taking shape as the nation's financial system teetered. But Treasury was reluctant to bail out a crippled institution that wasn't big enough to matter to the overall economy.

By early 2009, BankUnited acknowledged its capital had been wiped out. In April, regulators set a deadline for the bank to raise money. At the same time, they solicited bids from buyers.

''We continue to work on all avenues to recapitalize the bank,'' Ortiz said at the time. ``That includes an equity investment. That includes open-bank assistance. That includes a capital investment on the part of the Treasury.''

NEW OWNERS

The FDIC-led sale attracted five proposals from three groups. The winning bid came from a group of private equity firms led by Kanas. They agreed to invest $900 million in the bank, with the FDIC shouldering the bulk of any loan losses.

The FDIC put the cost at $4.9 billion. Only the failure of IndyMac has cost the FDIC more in the current downturn.

At the close of business on May 21, dozens of federal regulators, some wheeling carts, others wearing backpacks, filed in to BankUnited headquarters and seized the bank.

Camner's piggy bank was bust.

No one let the Camners know in advance what was coming. ''You know how I found out? I got a phone call,'' Camner's wife Anne told The Miami Herald at a shareholder meeting the next day. ``I found out yesterday at 5:15 p.m. the bank had been seized.''

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