Bank worker exposed client’s identity in plot to steal thousands from banks, feds say
Federal prosecutors said a woman working at a bank was selling customers’ personal data as part of a plot to steal thousands of dollars from branches in several states.
According to court documents, a Regional Bank employee disclosed customer names, ID numbers, and bank account numbers to other participants in the scheme. The men were making trips to steal from Regions Bank branches in Florida, Alabama, Iowa and Missouri, officials said.
More than $125,000 was stolen from banks in 2019, according to prosecutors.
A bank employee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida said in a Feb. 24 press release.
Sentencing is set for May 22.
Meanwhile, prosecutors announced that three other participants in the scheme were convicted in Pensacola federal court.
On February 26, McClatchy News contacted the attorneys listed for the Regional Bank employee and the three defendants and received no immediate response.
More about bank fraud scheme
According to the indictment, after a bank employee sold customer IDs, another woman involved in the scheme was given fake IDs with stolen customer information. However, officials said the ID cards bore the image of a woman and not an identified person.
The woman was also given counterfeit credit cards, customer bank account numbers, and counterfeit money orders or checks, the indictment says.
According to prosecutors, she then went to a regional bank and posed as a client to withdraw money. The indictment states that the money was divided among the people involved in the scheme.
Now a woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, at least 18 Regional Bank clients were victims of identity theft.
The story goes on
A man who officials said paid a bank employee for stolen customer information and participated in trips to steal from banks was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy with for the purpose of committing bank fraud and allegations of bank fraud.
Another man who officials say made these trips was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Branches of Regions Bank in northern Florida were attacked in the cities of Tallahassee, Bonifay, DeFuniac Springs, Panama City and other cities, as shown in the indictment.
Two other people named as accomplices in the case are being prosecuted in New York on a “separate but related indictment,” officials said.
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