Former bank employee accused in major embezzlement scheme in West Virginia

A former employee of the BB&T bank branch on Charleston's West Side has been indicted by a federal grand jury of embezzling a large amount of money from the financial facility.



Bonnie Jean Bain, 59, who worked as a teller supervisor, allegedly stole the money from at least May 2004 to October 2007, according to the indictment.



The grand jury charges that Bain, a Belle resident, intentionally made numerous false entries in the books and records designed to conceal cash shortages and prevent those shortages from being discovered.



The indictment says Bain falsified cash in and cash out tickets, falsified cash reconcilement reports and falsified teller drawer and vault daily cash balancing reports.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Robinson would not detail how much money Bain allegedly embezzled. But she pointed out that incorrect reports of cash made by Bain involve millions of dollars.



According to a long list of false entries included in the indictment, Bain made false cash balancing records concerning foreign currency, unfit and mutilated bills in teller drawers and the bank vault.



She also used false reports of pennies, $1 dollar bills and $2 dollar bills.



The indictment reads, "(Bonnie Bain) did knowingly make materially false entries.... in the books, reports and statements of BB&T, when in fact as defendant Bonnie Jean Bain well knew, these entries did not represent the actual currency as stated in the report."



The indictment lists 26 instances of reports made by Bain over a three-year period. Each involves between $1 million and $1.9 million in cash.



She is charged with 26 counts of embezzlement. If found guilty, Bain could be sentenced to 30 years and/or a $1 million fine for each count.



Bain was investigated by the United States Secret Service.



David White, BB&T Corp.'s vice president of corporate communications said, "Because this is now pending litigation, I cannot comment on it. I can confirm that she was a teller supervisor at BB&T."



Bain will be arraigned before a U.S. District Judge on Feb