Oct. 5--Georgian Bank's deep pool of wealthy customers helped it grow at lightning speed in recent years.

But the Atlanta bank's well-heeled clientele also turned out to be an Achilles' heel, hastening Georgian's demise when enough depositors pulled out their money as the enormity of the bank's problems became clear last summer.

While not a classic bank run, experts said, the exodus of cash was large and swift. The trend prompted regulators who were already closely watching the bank to shut it down last Friday.

It's not clear how much money left the bank. Walt Moeling, Georgian's attorney, said the figure was in the millions, though he could not be more specific. The bank's president, John Poelker, was traveling and could not be reached for comment.

Georgian was one of the state's largest community banks when it failed, with more than $1.9 billion in deposits. What really set it apart from the state's two dozen other failed lenders, however, was the affluence of its customers. As of last June 30, about 86 percent of its deposits were held in accounts larger than $100,000. The average size of those accounts: $673,000.

In good times, Georgian's robust funding base enabled the bank to lend aggressively to builders and developers working in metro Atlanta's then-booming real estate market. But having so much money tied up in relatively few depositors also meant that a large amount of cash could leave in a hurry should things go awry.

The crisis at Georgian erupted in early July, when the board replaced founder and CEO Gordon Teel. A few weeks later, the bank's horrid second-quarter performance became public. Losses totaled $36.7 million, while nonperforming loans soared from $24.7 million to $306 million.

All of this apparently spooked Georgian's wealthy customer base, many of whom had deposits far exceeding the federally insured limit of $250,000 -- giving them good reason to pay close attention to the bank's fortunes. Rival banks near Georgian's Buckhead branch, including Fidelity and Atlantic Capital, began seeing Georgian customers walking through the doors to open accounts.

Jim Miller, CEO of Fidelity Bank, said "many millions" came in over the past month, including wealthy individuals and investment managers looking for a safe place to stash clients' cash.

The steady stream of new business became a torrent last Friday, when word began swirling that Georgian was set to fail. Last Friday and Saturday, Miller said Fidelity signed up about 75 former Georgian customers.

"It was just a land rush," he said. "These are sophisticated people.