A bank created by the government to...

A bank created by the government to provide financial aid to rural telephone systems has accumulated more than $179 million in “excess profits” by manipulating interest rates, according to a House Government Operations report. The report on the Rural Telephone Bank’s lending practices said some phone users are being overcharged as much as $4 a month as a result. Congress requires the bank to lend money to rural phone systems at its average “cost of money.”