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Monday, September 19, 2011

Former Harrisonburg, Virginia Businessman Indicted on 24 Charges

A Harrisonburg man is facing 24 fraud-related charges following an indictment by a Federal Grand Jury.




Russell Kinnard Henry, Jr., 59, was charged with eight counts of bank fraud, eight counts of theft, the embezzlement or misapplication by a bank officer and eight counts of making a false statement for the purpose of influencing a financial institution.



Henry is the former City/Community Executive and Senior Vice President of FNB Southeast.



According to the indictment, between May 2003 and June 2005, Henry misrepresented himself to be his Alzheimer’s Disease stricken mother, Mary Henry, in loan documentation in order to secure lines of credit in his mother’s name.



The applications for credit were made to the defendant’s employer, FNB Southeast.



The defendant did not disclose the nature of his relationship on the loan applications to FNB Southeast.



In numerous fraudulent applications allegedly filed by Henry, the defendant falsely stated that his mother was the one making the application and misrepresented her annual income.



He also may have acted as the loan officer for each application and approved every loan himself.



Henry was fraudulently issued $1,910,101 in loans in his mother’s name.



The indictment alleges that Henry then withdrew money from the loan accounts in order to pay his mortgage and real estate taxes.



He also allegedly used the money to purchase a Dodge Durango, Coca Cola memorabilia and Petro signs.



Some of the alleged withdraws came following the May 25, 2005 death of his mother, and loan recipient, Mary Henry.



If convicted, the maximum penalty faced by the defendant at sentencing is 30 years incarceration and/or a fine of up to $1 million on each of the 24 counts.



The FBI conducted the investigation.

Bank Manager Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Embezzlement in Illinois

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Mills today sentenced a former manager of a Petersburg bank, Stephen R. Bradley, 65, to serve 36 months (three years) in federal prison for embezzling from his employer. Bradley was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $975,102.50. Bradley was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on a date to be determined by the BOP to begin serving his prison term. Following completion of his prison sentence, Bradley was ordered to remain under supervised release for a period of five years.




On Jan. 21, 2011, Bradley waived indictment and entered a plea of guilty to an information charging him with one count of embezzlement. Bradley admitted that he embezzled approximately $834,945 from January 2003 to March 1, 2010, while he was an employee of Petefish Skiles & Co. Bank in Petersburg, Illinois. The court also found that Bradley had embezzled an additional $140,157.50 from the bank in other accounts.



The charge is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in cooperation with the bank. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Bohm

A former credit union employee who admitted stealing more than $100,000 from the credit union and from her grandparents’ account will spend about a year in federal prison.

A former credit union employee who admitted stealing more than $100,000 from the credit union and from her grandparents’ account will spend about a year in federal prison.



Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom on Wednesday sentenced Sarah Anne Housley, 34, to one year and a day in prison, The sentence qualifies her for a shorter sentence with good behavior. He also ordered her to pay $110,690 restitution and allowed her to report to prison when assigned to a facility.



“I’m just sorry for what happened. I did abuse the trust of co-workers and my grandparents. I was just in a horrible place,” Housley said.



Housley told the court that she felt threatened by her husband and was concerned for her children. “I just didn’t have any options at the time,” she said.



Housley’s attorney, Brian Kohn, recommended a sentence to a halfway house where Housley could still have family support and contact with her children. Housley’s stealing was triggered by an abusive husband, he said.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Archer objected to a community corrections sentence.



“Giving her a break here would be 12 months and one day,” he said.



Housley pleaded guilty in April to one count of bank embezzlement for stealing from the Montana Health Federal Credit Union, where she had been employed for seven years.



An investigation found that Housley, who worked as a business development officer, stole $94,158 from her grandparents’ account in hundreds of transactions and embezzled additional money from her teller drawer.



The thefts occurred from January 2008 to July 2010. An investigation began when the credit union’s chief executive officer, Sherry Essmann, noticed that Housley was having problems balancing her personal account.



Essmann asked the judge to send a message that he does not excuse criminal behavior based on a criminal’s family situation and that embezzlement will not be tolerated in the community. The monetary loss was only part of the “devastation” that Housley caused, she said.



“She cheated people who believed in her and depended on her,” Essmann said. “Not only has Ms. Housley caused our credit union financial loss, but she has single-handedly created an atmosphere of skepticism, suspicion and doubt within the ranks at the credit union. Our dedicated, resilient staff has worked hard to repair the emotional damage,” she said.



“Because I decided to do the right thing and pursue prosecution of this crime on behalf of the credit union membership, our credit union has been threatened and I have been personally vilified in front of family and friends,” Essmann said.



The credit union reimbursed Housley’s grandparents for their losses, while the credit union’s insurance company paid the entire amount, minus a deductible, to the credit union, Archer said in court records.







Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_6fe51aff-e2bf-53e8-8161-e874cee0fb1f.html#ixzz1YQ4V8aGs

Ex-SW Va. bank teller gets four years in fraud

A former bank teller in Southwest Virginia was sentenced to four years in prison for bank fraud, embezzlement, credit-card fraud and identity theft.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Amber Renee Franks, 33, of Coeburn was sentenced Friday in federal court in Big Stone Gap. She also was ordered to pay more than $35,000 in restitution to her victims. A jury convicted her on 13 counts in May. According to evidence, Franks fraudulently used two credit cards in the names of her adopted father and deceased mother.
The part-time teller at the Coeburn BB&T Bank branch also forged balance transfer checks using her deceased mother's name and drafted fraudulent documents to withdraw nearly $32,000 from the account of an elderly customer and his deceased wife.

Prison sentence for Ala. woman convicted of embezzlement tailored to her new pregnancy

A federal judge has tailored a sentence for a woman convicted of embezzling who is newly pregnant and wants to avoid having her baby in jail.




The Mobile Press-Register reports (http://bit.ly/pFOeTk ) that Danielle Krystan Winkler was sentenced to four months in federal prison but was ordered to begin serving immediately so she'll be out by the time she gives birth.



Winkler will be on five years' supervised release.



The 29-yearold pleaded guilty to bank fraud in April, admitting to stealing $135,000 through 164 withdrawals from customer accounts at America's First Federal Credit Union in Mobile. She also has to pay $5,000 to the credit union and $126,259 to the bank's insurance company.



Her attorney, Art Powell, said Winkler didn't spend the money "to enjoy some extravagant lifestyle." He said she also has a 14-month-old son.

Suburban bank official arrested in Dominican Republic with stolen $40K in Illinois

A 25-year-old assistant bank manager from Palos Hills was arrested in the Dominican Republic Saturday with nearly $40,000 in cash stolen from a bank vault earlier in the day, FBI officials said today.




Blazej M. Wasilewski, of the 10300 block of South Alta Drive in the southwest suburb, was charged in U.S. District Court with bank embezzlement, a felony, according to a press release issued by FBI officials.



Wasilewski is currently in the Dominican Republic awaiting extradition, officials said.



Wasilewski, an assistant manager from the south suburban Glenwood Chase bank branch, 18701 S. Halsted St., was able to manually turn off the bank 's electrical power on Friday evening as the bank was closing for the day, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday.



Early Saturday morning, Wasilewski allegedly returned to the bank and was able to use his keys and alarm codes to enter the bank, deactivate the alarm and open the vault, officials said.



The money was discovered missing when bank employees conducted an audit of the bank on Saturday morning after employees noticed that one teller cash dispenser was missing and a second dispenser been forced open and emptied of money, officials said.



The audit found that $39,765 was missing and Wasilewski was the suspected thief after his bank issued entry key was found sitting on a counter inside the bank and the bank's security system indicated that his code had been used to enter the bank and the vault, officials said.



Wasilewski could not be found when the bank manager tried to reach him Saturday morning, officials said.



FBI officials were able to track Wasilewski to O'Hare International Airport, where records indicated that he had boarded a flight Saturday morning from Chicago to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, officials said.



He was arrested Saturday evening by officers of the Dominican National Police as he tried to enter that country with $39,765 he did not declare to Dominican customs officials, according to the complaint.



Once he is extradited, he is expected to appear in U.S. District Court where he will be formally charged. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, officials said.

Former banker pleads guilty to embezzlement in Louisiana

A former president of Farmer's State Bank has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 in bank funds from July 1998 through January 2004.




The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/onq2LL ) Steve J. Broussard entered a guilty plea in federal court Monday to one count of misapplication by a bank employee and officer, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to 30 years.



Broussard had resigned from the Church Point bank about four years before he was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2008 on 14 counts of misapplication by a bank employee and officer in excess of $1,000 and eight counts for less than $1,000.



According to the factual basis for his guilty plea, Broussard admitted to embezzling and willfully misapplying $119,981 in funds, credits and money, of which $104,349 is owed in restitution to the bank.



Among the ways the money was spent:



— Broussard hired three men as contract laborers for the bank and then directed them to spend about 30 percent of their time working on his personal property, although they were being paid by the bank, the filing says.



From 1998 through 2004, Elroy Meche, Felton James Bellard and Joseph Charlot were paid $231,750, of which $69,254 went toward work performed on Broussard's property, the filing says.



—Between June 2002 and September 2004, Broussard fraudulently received $38,930 in cash advances from ATMs using his bank-issued credit card and a bank-issued card linked to an ATM testing account at the bank, the filing says.



Of that, $24,705 has not been repaid to the bank, the filing says.



—From September 1998 through December 2003, Broussard had the bank purchase $13,149 in cooking supplies for the Circle S Cooking Team, one of his private activities.



Only about 50 percent of the team's activities served a legitimate bank purpose, the filing says.



—Between November 2002 and December 2002, Broussard directed the bank to give out a loan to newly elected Church Point City Councilman Melckisadech Green in order to gain influence on the city council, the filing says.



Green did not qualify for the loan, which ultimately cost the bank $1,294 when Green defaulted and failed to repay it, the filing says.



—Between January 1999 and July 2004, Broussard charged $1,715 to his bank-issued credit card for unauthorized personal items at Wal-Mart, the filing says.



Broussard will be sentenced at a later date.

Former Bank President Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Millions of Dollars in Kentucky

The former president and chief executive officer of a Falmouth, Ky. bank admitted that she embezzled more than two million dollars from the bank, according to a plea agreement filed today.




Donna J. Wood, 50, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to an embezzlement charge and admitted that from March of 2003 until January 26 of this year she embezzled $2,244,506.44 from United Kentucky Bank.



Wood also signed an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which stipulates that she will never work in banking again.



According to the plea agreement, Wood transferred money belonging to the bank into accounts owned by her husband and her two sons. Wood then falsified bank records to conceal her criminal conduct from auditors.



Wood worked as the bank president for two years. Prior to that, she had worked as the bank’s vice president since the bank opened in 1992.



Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Elizabeth A. Fries, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Division, jointly made the announcement today.



The investigation was conducted by the FBI. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorney Laura K. Voorhees.



Wood faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Any sentence will be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.

Lowville woman charged in $10,000 embezzlement in New York

Lowville woman accused of embezzling $10,000



State police allege that a bank teller embezzled $10,000 on a single day.



Elsa L. Bush, 33, of 7564 Church St., Lowville, was arrested Thursday on a charge of third-degree grand larceny. She was arraigned in town of Pamelia Court and was released without bail to await grand jury action.



An investigator alleges that Ms. Bush stole the money July 26 while working as a teller at Community Bank, Route 3, Black River. No other details were available Thursday.

A former La Coste National Bank vice president was sentenced to five years' probation in Texas

A former La Coste National Bank vice president was sentenced to five years' probation for embezzling $30,000 from the now-defunct financial institution.



Mary Magdalene Crawford, of Atascosa, also must pay $40,000 in restitution; she's already repaid about $37,000 — some of which came from a retirement account that she had at the bank.



The embezzlement was uncovered in February 2010 after the bank was shut down by regulators because of an unrelated scheme.



Before sentencing Crawford, Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery asked her why she was in his courtroom.



“I just made a mistake,” Crawford softly answered.



“No ma'am,” Biery said. “You're a crook. You're a thief.”



Crawford later said she was sorry “that it happened.”



According to Crawford's plea agreement filed last fall, she stated she fraudulently prepared 10 cashier's checks worth $3,000 each. She then cashed the checks in late 2009 and used most of the money to pay bills.



In addition, the plea agreement stated that she stole $10,000 from the bank's vault. That charge was dropped as part of the plea, though the money was included in the amount that must be repaid.



La Coste National Bank was shut down by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver.



The bank's failure was blamed on the “the write-off of $7.3 million in fictitious investment securities alleged created by” then-President Jody P. Gwyn “to conceal his approval of payments made from bank funds on loans and significant overdrafts for a bank customer,” according to an audit report by the Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General.



The loans were well in excess of the bank's lending limits. The customer never has been publicly identified.



Gwyn was sentenced in April to five years in federal prison. He also must make $8.3 million in restitution for the losses sustained by the bank.



Crawford has been credited with already serving a year of probation. The probation could be terminated in two years if she gets in no further trouble and she pays back the remaining restitution.



La Coste's assets were acquired last year by Community National Bank of Hondo.







Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Ex-bank-VP-gets-probation-2152892.php#ixzz1YPq2Nqg0

Police have filed charges against a Sovereign Bank employee alleging that he embezzled $2,300 in Massachusetts

Police have filed charges against a Sovereign Bank employee alleging that he embezzled $2,300 from a deceased customer through fraudulent transactions.
Giovanni Pena, 20, of 24 Henry St., Southbridge, has been charged with four counts of misconduct by a bank officer/employee and four counts of embezzlement from a bank.
Pena will be issued a summons to appear in Brockton District Court for arraignment at a later date.
Whitman Police Chief Christine May-Stafford said that over a four-month period Pena is accused of withdrawing $2,300 in four separate transactions from an elderly person’s savings account, “but in fact the person was actually deceased.”
The chief said the transactions were made as “over-the-counter withdrawals.”
Police do not know if Pena transferred the money into a separate bank account or withdrew cash.
The family of the deceased person contacted the bank about the suspicious transactions on July 28.
Sovereign Bank loss prevention then contacted Whitman police to look into the matter.
Whitman Detective Stephen Drass conducted the investigation which led to the felony charges.
Pena is no longer employed by Sovereign Bank, the chief added







Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x948303562/Whitman-bank-theft-believed-to-be-inside-job#ixzz1YPo1xjWB

FORMER ALAMOGORDO BANK EMPLOYEE ARRAIGNED IN NEW MEXICO

Brisa Ramos, 30, of Newburg, Maryland, was arraigned on a 41count indictment charging her with embezzlement and aggravated identity theft this morning in federal court in Las Cruces. Ramos entered a not guilty plea during this morning’s proceedings, and was released on a $10,000 bond and other conditions pending trial.


The indictment, which was filed on August 17, 2011, charges Ramos with 40 counts of embezzlement and one count of aggravated identity theft. It also seeks an order requiring that Ramos forfeit any property obtained as a result of her alleged criminal conduct and a money judgment in the amount of $493,686, the amount of money involved in her alleged criminal conduct. The maximum penalty for a conviction on each of the 40 embezzlement counts is thirty years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a conviction on the aggravated identity theft charge is two years imprisonment to be served consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Ramos was employed at the First National Bank of Alamogordo in Alamogordo, New Mexico (FNB) and held the position of Account Services Supervisor at the time of the offenses charged in the indictment. According to the indictment, Ramos was employed at FNB from 1999 through September 2008, when she resigned her employment. The indictment alleges that, from October 2003 through December 2008, Ramos embezzled several hundred thousand dollars from customer accounts through the following types of transactions: (1) withdrawing cash from customer accounts; (2) causing cashier’s checks to be issued to third parties from those accounts; and (3) transferring funds from other customer accounts to the customer accounts from which she embezzled.

The case was investigated by the Roswell Resident Agency Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Richard C. Williams.

Former bank teller charged in Staunton, Virginia

A former teller at SunTrust bank was arrested by police Monday and charged with stealing $4,806, according to the Staunton Police Department.




Catherine McEwing, 25, faces a felony charge of embezzlement.

Police said the alleged theft of the cash took place between June 14 and July 15 at the SunTrust bank located on Statler Boulevard inside the Kroger supermarket. The arrest followed a “surprise audit,” said Staunton police spokeswoman Lisa Klein.





McEwing is free on bond.

Ex-bank official faces embezzlement count in Massachusetts

The former manager of the North Easton Savings Bank on Copeland Drive has been charged in federal court with embezzling more than $175,000 in funds through unauthorized withdrawals from customers' accounts, including one who died a week before she allegedly stole funds from his certificate of deposit account.




Kathleen Didonato, also known as Kathleen O'Connell, of 10 Garfield St., in Foxboro, faces charges of theft by a bank employee, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in U.S. District Court in Boston.



A probable cause hearing is scheduled Aug. 29.



Didonato was an assistant bank manager when she allegedly began withdrawing funds in October 2010 and continued the scheme until January of this year. She was employed by the bank from 2007 until February of this year.



Bank auditors identified 126 fraudulent transactions linked to Didonato, including 32 transactions totaling nearly $70,000 involving withdrawals of cash or bank checks from one couple with an account at the bank, according to an affidavit of an FBI agent filed to support the charges. Didonato used $10,000 she allegedly withdrew from a customer's CD account to pay down a car loan for her 2007 Ford Fusion and another $10,000 from another customer's CD account to buy a 2004 Cadillac CTS luxury sports sedan, according to court records.



In another instance, she allegedly took $12,530 in cash from a customer for a bank check to pay the Emmanuel College tuition of a customer's daughter. But instead of depositing the cash she allegedly stole it and then balanced her ledger by electronically withdrawing funds from another customer's account, according to court records.



When one of the customer's questioned Didonato about missing funds from his account, she allegedly "manipulated the bank's ledger" to cover up a fraudulent withdrawal and gave the customer a print out "to lull him into believing his account was safe," according to court records.



The bank is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and bank president and chief executive officer Tom Deubler said Friday that all the customer accounts are "100 percent" accurate, including those allegedly manipulated by Didonato to perpetuate her crimes.



"Since 1864, no customer has ever lost a penny," Deubler said.



Didonato is free on a $10,000 bond and did not immediately return a telephone call Friday by The Sun Chronicle seeking comment. Her lawyer, a federal public defender, was not available. During the investigation, Didonato allegedly told FBI agents that she was "let go" from North Easton Savings Bank for "sloppiness" in performing her job. She allegedly told the agents she kept all of her passwords at her work station under her mouse pad, according to court records.



Didonato also allegedly stole the agents she bought her Cadillac from a customer at the bank and paid for it by trading in her Ford. When confronted about the alleged misapplication and embezzlement of account holder funds at the bank, Didonato declined to answer more questions without a lawyer present, according to court records.



The complaint was filed by the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston July 25.



According to court records, both sides are in plea negotiations to resolve the case.

Bank employees facing charges in New Jersey

Two bank employees were arrested last week for allegedly embezzling money from the Saddle River Road branch of TD Bank over the course of several months.

On Aug. 29 at 3:14 p.m., Officer Joseph Mecionis responded to the TD Bank on Saddle River Road for a report of embezzlement. After arriving at the bank, the officer met with corporate security representatives who stated they had two employees in custody for stealing money and falsifying bank records to cover up the theft.
Ian Williams, 23, of Englewood allegedly began taking money from his drawer "on and off for several months," police said. Later, Williams enlisted the aid of his co-worker – Gisselle Delacruz, 24, of Prospect Park – to help him cover up the thefts, police said. The duo allegedly falsified records to cover up the cash shortages in their drawers, police said.
Authorities allege that Williams stole $6,100 and Delacruz stole $4,100.
The pair was arrested on Aug. 29 and charged with theft and conspiracy. They were later released on their own recognizance and are scheduled to appear in Fair Lawn Municipal Court on Sept. 14.

Former Orlando Fifth Third executive pleads guilty to tax charge stemming from embezzlement

A former assistant vice president at Fifth Third Bank in Orlando today pleaded guilty to a tax charge stemming from an embezzlment scheme at the bank, prosecutors said.




Nikki Christine Highfield, 39, of Maineville, Ohio, agreed to plead guilty to filing a false tax-related document. Prosecutors say she falsified income-tax forms by failing to declare the embezzled funds as income.



The government was cheated out of more than $24,000 in 2005 and nearly $22,000 in 2006 as a result, court documents show. Highfield's husband, whose name was on the jointly filed returns, was unaware of the scheme, the government said.




Highfield was assistant vice president and regional risk and administration manager at Fifth Third Bank from 2005 to 2008. She oversaw cashiers' checks the bank issued and reconciliation of the bank's account, court papers show.




Prosecutors say she made out cashiers' checks worth nearly $275,000 to herself and her creditors and covered them with other checks from the bank's account.





The crime is punishable by up to three years in prison, one year of probation and a fine. However, the government agreed to recommend that Highfield receive a lighter sentence.



As part of the plea agreement, reached in July, Highfield agreed not to work for a bank or credit union.

Former Citigroup Insider Pleads Guilty To Bank Fraud

Gary Foster, a former vice president in Citigroup Inc.'s treasury finance department, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to bank fraud related to his embezzlement of more than $22 million from Citigroup and its customers.




According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's charges against Foster stemmed from fraud he committed against Citi between September 2003 and June 2011.



On June 26, Foster, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at John F. Kennedy International Airport, just as he returned from a trip to Bangkok.



"The defendant violated his employer's trust and stole a stunning amount of money over an extended period of time to finance his personal lifestyle," says Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for Eastern New York in a statement. "We will vigorously investigate and prosecute such conduct and seek to recover as much of the proceeds as possible."



Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for Citi, says simply, "We are pleased that Mr. Foster will be held accountable for his crimes."



The Foster case highlights exactly why many institutions face challenges when it comes to detecting internal fraud. "A bank the size of Citi will have significant technological resources deployed against detecting online fraud, but the patterns of internal fraud can often mimic the patterns of everyday activity. This underscores the need for a layered approach to detecting internal fraud, combining internal audit, behavior analytics and periodic background checks. While living a lavish lifestyle isn't a crime, this individual's lifestyle wasn't commensurate with his position, and could've been an early red flag, if anyone had been looking."



Foster was charged with transferring money from various Citi accounts to a Citi cash account. From there, he wired the money to a personal bank account at another bank. He concealed the thefts by making various false accounting entries, making it appear as if the cash account was in balance. He also placed a fake contract or deal number in the reference line of the wire transfer instructions, giving the appearance that the wire transfers were actually in support of an existing Citi contract.



Foster used the money to buy real estate and luxury automobiles, including a Ferrari and a Maserati. In total, the value of the seized and restrained property is estimated to be approximately $16 million. Foster will forfeit the property pursuant to his plea agreement, and now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years' imprisonment.



"Like most employee fraud, using basic monitoring software could have identified the transaction anomalies well before the fraud reached this magnitude. Foster was wiring funds to a personal bank account at another bank, a situation that could have been easily identified if it was being monitored. This particular fraud went on for almost eight years before it was finally identified. How much of this type of fraud is currently happening under the noses of other financial institutions? The answer is, a lot, several billion dollars worth."

A former Dime Bank executive was sentenced in Connecticutt to 51 months in prison

A former Dime Bank executive was sentenced Wednesday to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling more than $1 million.



Philip Mongillo , 51, of Westbrook, pleaded guilty in June to one count of bank theft.



Mongillo, who served as the bank's assistant vice president and technology officer, was responsible for overseeing the bank's hardware and software systems, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.



Mongillo admitted he created a fake company to issue false invoices to the bank in September 2001, according to court documents. The invoices purported to charge the bank for technology support services that Mongillo knew had not been rendered.



He also set up a post office box and a business checking account in the fictitious company's name and caused the bank to issue payments to the fictitious company, department officials said.



Mongillo then deposited the payments in the business checking account he had established. From September 2001 through November 2010, Mongillo stole approximately $1,029,050 from his employer, officials said.



U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on Wednesday ordered Mongillo to pay restitution to the bank. Mongillo has agreed to a permanent bar from employment with any institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.







Read more: Former Dime Bank executive gets 51 months in embezzlement case - Norwich, CT - The Bulletin http://www.norwichbulletin.com/archive/x1069114619/Former-Dime-Bank-executive-gets-51-months-in-embezzlement-case#ixzz1YPPPYsk1

Laurel bank employee charged with embezzlement in Mississippi

An employee of a bank in Laurel has been indicted for embezzlement for allegedly taking $86,000 from the vault over a period of about a decade.




A federal indictment says Stacy Ishee was an employee of the Laurel branch of Citizens National Bank of Meridian. The indictment said she took cash from the bank's vault and created false documents to hide the theft.



A call to her home Monday was not immediately returned.

Former bank teller embezzled in Idaho

A former teller at Wells Fargo Bank in Hailey has been charged with a felony for allegedly stealing from the bank.



An initial court appearance on a charge of grand theft by embezzlement is scheduled for Monday in Blaine County Magistrate Court for Erika M. Ruiz, a 21-year-old Hailey woman. Ruiz is also charged in a separate case with another felony for allegedly illegally using a co-worker's debit-card number.



Ruiz is represented by Ketchum attorney Andrew Parnes in both cases.



She was also the alleged victim in a Hailey stabbing case dismissed earlier this month in Blaine County 5th District Court.



In the embezzlement case, an arrest warrant was issued for Ruiz on Aug. 31 based upon a probable-cause affidavit filed by Hailey police Lt. Steve England. According to court records, Ruiz voluntarily surrendered to police on Aug. 31 after learning of the arrest warrant. She was released from custody that same day after posting $10,000 bond.



England wrote in his report that Ruiz became employed as a teller at Wells Fargo on March 30. Her employment was terminated on June 15 following a bank investigation. The case was turned over to the Hailey Police Department in July.

Guilty plea in $4.4 million embezzlement in Missouri

A former worker at the Jersey State Bank in Jerseyville faces up to 30 years in federal prison and $1 million in fines now that she has admitted embezzling $4.4 million. Mary Becker, 56, of Jerseyville, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to a charge of bank fraud. Authorities say Becker worked at the bank since 1976, holding positions ranging from assistant cashier to executive vice president. The indictment alleged that Becker inflated expenses and electronically transferred money from the bank's accounts to her own. Federal prosecutors are trying to seize Becker's home, two condos near Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks, a 38-foot powerboat and various other investments. The bank's president says Becker resigned in February and no customer accounts were affected.



Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/