John Bain Collateral Trust was associated with the West Englewood Trust & Savings Bank and is linked to a significant financial scandal during the Great Depression. It represents a period of turmoil in the Chicago banking community, where fraudulent practices and mismanagement by key figures, including John Bain, led to widespread bank failures. 

John Bain, along with his sons, John H. Bain and Robert A. Bain, his son-in-law W. Merle Fisher, and others, were involved in a criminal conspiracy related to financial fraud in the early 1930s. They were charged with illegally obtaining funds from the public and defrauding multiple banks, including the West Englewood Trust & Savings Bank in Chicago, through various fraudulent activities. 

The charges included conspiracy to obtain large sums of money from stockholders, depositors, and creditors of the banks by false pretenses. The total amount involved was approximately $13 million, which represented the combined deposits of several banks at the time. The defendants were accused of inflating the value of loans and purchasing overpriced properties for the banks they controlled, leading to significant financial harm. 

The charges also included making excessive, unsecured loans to insolvent individuals and companies. John Bain, as president of the West Englewood Trust & Savings Bank, played a central role in this conspiracy, along with his family members and associates. The court found the defendants guilty on most counts, including conspiracy to defraud the banks. John Bain was sentenced to one to five years in prison, and his sons and son-in-law were fined.

The case involved over 100 witnesses, with extensive testimony about the financial misconduct carried out across multiple banks. Ultimately, the fraudulent actions contributed to the closure of 12 local banks in June 1931, causing significant financial losses.