# Lincoln Savings and Loan Association Irvine, California thrift institution controlled by [[Charles Keating]] whose spectacular 1989 collapse became the defining scandal of the [[Savings and Loan Crisis]]. Keating used Lincoln's deposits to fund high-risk real estate and junk bond investments after [[Deregulation]] loosened thrift investment restrictions, then pressured five U.S. senators — the [[Keating Five Scandal]] — to intervene with regulators on his behalf. The failure cost taxpayers $3.4 billion and became a case study in how political influence and financial [[Deregulation]] combine to produce catastrophic institutional failure.