Former bank officer to plead guilty to defrauding Rockland Savings of more than $400,000 in Maine

A 45-year-old Rockland woman is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday to a charge that she bilked the Rockland Savings Bank of more than $400,000 over a three-year period.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Shauna L. Quinn filed an agreement Aug. 8 in U.S. District Court that Quinn would plead guilty to bank fraud.

Quinn could face up to 30 years in federal prison although the agreement points out that the prosecution is recommending that U.S. District Court Judge George Singal find that Quinn cooperated with authorities and thus should be given a lesser sentence. The judge, however, does not have to accept that recommendation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, through Assistant U.S. Attorney James Chapman Jr., states in paperwork filed Thursday that if the case had gone to trial, the federal government would have proved that between July 2008 and June 2011, she came up with a scheme to defraud Rockland Savings of more than $400,000.

The scheme, according to the federal government, involved extending home equity lines of credit and loans in the names of family members and then using that money for her personal use, for the use of family members, and to make payments on loans. The lines of credit and loans were done without authorization of the bank or the family members, according to the prosecution.

Last year, Quinn’s brother, Christopher Wellman, and sister-in-law, Tara Wellman, both of Hope filed a civil lawsuit against the bank, claiming it allowed an employee to steal $95,000 from his accounts and took out a $68,000 loan in his name without his knowledge.

Maine Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm dismissed the bulk of that lawsuit in December.

Quinn was hired by Rockland Savings in August 2000 as a teller. She was promoted in October 2004 to a customer service representative and in May 2007 was transferred to the collections department. In 2008, she also was given the duty of processing loans.

The bank became aware of the scheme in June 2011 when it learned Quinn had deposited $5,000 into an account with her daughter’s name on it. The money was traced to a line of credit in the name of Quinn’s mother, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The bank reviewed transactions and found that within the previous 45 days, Quinn had transferred about $55,000 from her daughter’s account to her own account.

Bank officials confronted her on June 24, 2011, and she admitted to making unauthorized increases to lines of credit and creating unauthorized loans to family members.

She was immediately fired by the bank, the prosecution stated.

Quinn is represented by attorney Dale Thistle of Newport.

Quinn was charged in December and indicted by a federal grand jury in January. She was scheduled to go to trial next month.