FORMER TEXAS BANK EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR EMBEZZLEMENT

A former teller of First National Bank has been sentenced to prison for embezzling money from the bank, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

Alan Gomez, 23, of McAllen and a former teller with First National Bank, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison this morning by United States District Judge Randy Crane. The sentence, which presents the maximum of the applicable guideline range is to be followed by a five-year-term of supervised release. Judge Crane also ordered Gomez pay $30,795.84 in restitution to First National Bank. After handing down the sentence, Judge Crane remanded Gomez to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.
Gomez pleaded guilty to embezzlement on April 1, 2009, admitting he used his position as a teller at the bank to embezzle approximately $40,000 in bank funds over a two-month period. Gomez stole differing amounts of money from his cash drawer at the beginning of the business day and then processed illegitimate cash-out transactions on his teller computer for the amount he stole. Gomez processed these transactions so that the balance on his teller computer corresponded with the amount of money in his drawer in the event his supervisor conducted a daytime audit. At the end of the business day, Gomez deleted the illegitimate cash-out transactions on his teller computer to conceal them from First National Bank’s overnight auditors. His scheme was eventually discovered and lead to an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and these charges.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory S. Saikin prosecuted the case.