3 friends indicted for $87,000 bank fraud in Indiana

According to federal court documents, 24-year-old Courtney Crusoe found an easy way to get money to her friends.

Crusoe was employed at a Wells Fargo bank in Fort Wayne, according to federal court documents.

While she worked there as a personal banker, she added two other people secretly to the bank accounts of Wells Fargo customers, allowing them access to those accounts.

Crusoe, Deandre Banks, 23; and Marcel Banks, 26, are all named in a five-count federal indictment accusing them of bank fraud and other charges.

A federal grand jury meeting in Fort Wayne handed down the indictment last week, but the case was not unsealed until Tuesday.

From July to August of last year, according to court documents, Crusoe and Banks took $87,000 from the Wells Fargo bank through the scheme.

Crusoe is charged with bank fraud, bank embezzlement and money laundering. Both Deandre Banks and Marcel Banks are charged with bank fraud and money laundering.

Either as secondary account owners, or through Crusoe herself, the three ended up with withdrawals or cashiers’ checks from different accounts. That money was then deposited into a Chase Bank account owned by Deandre Banks and the money was then withdrawn and transferred to another account owned by Marcel Banks, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the federal government seeks the return of the $87,000 or any property bought with it.

First Financial Bank Employee Charged with Embezzlement

The Office of the United States Attorney has filed a criminal information charging Jeannie M. Bellar with embezzlement.  The indictment states:


Jeannie M. Bellar, being an employee with First Financial Bank . . . did steal and embezzle the sume of approximately SEVENTEEN THOUSAND ($17,000.00) DOLLARS . . .and without authority converted it to her own use.

It is unknown whether Bellar has been arrested but it would be unusual for the US Attorney to announce an indictment without first arranging for the arrest or surrender of the Defendant.

Bank employee accused of embezzlement readies guilty plea in Indiana

A former customer service manager for Greensburg’s Fifth Third bank notified authorities of her intent to enter a guilty plea on federal embezzlement charges earlier this week.

Michelle Wagner, 41, was investigated by federal agents who claim she stole more than $300,000 from a pair of senior citizens’ accounts while working as a customer service manager at Fifth Third. In total, investigators believe Wagner pocketed $344,918.08 over the course of 18 months.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Joe Hogsett told the Daily News Friday that Wagner and her attorney have formally notified the federal court system of their intent to enter a guilty plea. That plea, if entered and accepted by the court, will eventually be followed by a sentencing hearing. Hogsett said Wagner could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison time, in addition to “significant fines” and a period of supervision following her release. Wagner has no prior criminal history, he said, and the suspect’s choice to avoid a trial could potentially reduce her sentence. But that’s up to the judge, he said.

One unavoidable outcome of the case will be Wagner’s requirement to repay every cent she is alleged to have stolen.

Hogsett said he could not comment on (and didn’t have access to) a list of items purchased by Wagner using the embezzled funds.

“That information will be revealed at the sentencing,” Hogsett said. The items purchased were described as being “for her (Wagner’s) personal use.”

Hogsett said items bought by Wagner using the victims’ funds would be sold, and the proceeds of those items would be returned to the Fifth Third customers as restitution.

The U.S. attorney complimented the efforts of Federal Investigators as well as Fifth Third’s own investigative team whose assistance Hogsett described as “extraordinarily cooperative and helpful.”

Wagner’s work as a customer service manager gave her complete access to her client’s accounts. Part of her duties, Hogsett said, included assisting the two victims with writing checks, paying monthly bills and other expenses, transferring funds, and maintaining their accounts in general. The multiple unauthorized transactions are alleged to have occurred over a period of time spanning from July 2010 until early December 2011.

Hogsett said his office is determined to send the message that they “take very seriously those who abuse the public trust.”

Wagner’s alleged actions took many by surprise, as Hogsett said neither Fifth Third nor the customer service manager’s clients had reason to believe the suspect was anything less than honest.

Woman sentenced in bank embezzlement in Indiana

North Vernon resident Tami Rees, 32, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after she pled guilty Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in New Albany to embezzling thousands of dollars from Napoleon State Bank in Napoleon.
According to court documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted in February 2012 with information regarding embezzlement that had taken place at the bank. Investigators identified Rees, a 10-year employee of the bank, as the alleged perpetrator. She was charged in August.
Rees has since admitted that over the course of four years, she deposited $176,157.52 into her personal bank accounts on 89 occasions.
According to the U.S. Attorney Office which prosecuted the case, these unauthorized payments would have been noted, but Rees, who was manager of the bank's ATM Department, would use the bank's computer system to force the account into false balance. This hid her theft from bank management. Because of the high volume of transactions that occur regularly in the ATM system, she was able to carry on her embezzlement scheme for four years.
Over those years, she allegedly paid off her home equity line of credit and a personal loan she obtained from the Napoleon bank. She also made direct deposits into her personal checking accounts.
"She was a loyal customer," noted a Ripley County individual who knew Rees who, at the time of her arrest, was living at Holton. She has since been divorced and has taken her maiden name of Perry.
"When Hoosiers steal from Hoosiers, we all suffer," noted Joseph H. Hogsett, U.S. Attorney. "We all must do our part to combat this culture of corruption-it weakens our economy and harms our sense of community. That is why the U.S. Attorney's Office has in the last year redoubled efforts to hold accountable those who put greed and selfishness ahead of the interests of their employers and our state."
Rees is now awaiting assignment as to what federal prison she will serve her time. Indiana has just one such prison in Terre Haute. Per federal guidelines, 85 percent of the sentence must be served.
A cooperative witness, the court recommended to the Bureau of Pri-sons Rees serve her time close to home.
After her release, she will be on supervised release for 3 years and home detention for the first 9 months. She must complete 24 months of community service at the rate of 12 hours per month (two six-hour days) at the direction of the U.S. Probation Office. She must also undergo counseling and reimburse Napoleon State Bank.

Hammond, Indiana woman pleads guilty to embezzling $50,000 from Whiting bank

A former vice president of Whiting's Liberty Savings Bank pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling more than $50,000 from the company over a two-year span.




Sherlynn M. Groat, 56, of Hammond, changed her plea Thursday morning in Hammond federal court and was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond that she will have to pay should she miss her next court date.



Groat was a veteran bank employee of more than 25 years before her criminal activity led to her dismissal in March, court records show. She now is working in a Strack & Van Til deli.



Between 2008 and 2010, Groat used her role as a Liberty Savings vice president to transfer the bank's money into her personal accounts, as well as steal money from customers' accounts. She now faces as many as 60 years in prison, 10 years supervised release and $2 million in fines.



"I took numerous steps to conceal my criminal conduct from the bank and the customers," Groat wrote in her November plea agreement.



During her embezzling spree, Groat increased the loan amounts of a bank customer without permission and placed the excess funds into her personal Liberty Savings accounts. In another case, Groat stole two checks intended as payment for a client's loan and cashed them for her personal use. She also opened a loan in the name of a customer without permission and withheld the person's year-end loan statement to hide the scheme.



Groat has repaid the tens of thousands of dollars she stole from the bank and its customers, including interest, court records show. And in exchange for her guilty plea and act of restitution, the prosecutors agreed to ask the court for the minimum sentence within the guideline range, which has yet to be calculated.



Joseph Shimala, president of Liberty Savings Bank, FSB, declined to talk about Groat or her case.



"I've been advised by legal counsel not to comment," Shimala said.



Groat's attorney, federal defender Ashwin Cattamanchi, also declined to comment. Groat is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. May 5 in Judge Rudy Lozano's courtroom.

Bank Official Admits Embezzling $50,000 in Indiana

The vice president of a local bank embezzled more than $50,000 by taking out loans on customers’ accounts and increasing her own mortgage, according to court records.

Sherlynn Groat, 56, of Hammond, agreed to plead guilty the same day she was charged in the U.S. District Court in Hammond with one count each embezzling money from the bank and entering in false information.
According to her plea agreement, Groat has worked at Liberty Savings Bank, a local company that has branches in Whiting and Schererville, since 1981. She admits in the agreement that from March 2008 to April 2010, she used the loans to take in more than $50,000 from the bank.
At first she used her position to increase her own mortgage, the agreements says, essentially using it as a line of credit for $16,500, which the bank does not allow. She went further by increasing the loan of a bank customer, without that customer’s knowledge, and kept the money for herself. Groat ended up creating a new loan for a bank customer, again taking the money for herself.
Groat says in the agreement that she tried to make payments on that loan but fell behind. That led to her creating a second loan to pay the first one off, according to the agreement. Groat says in the agreement that she hid paperwork of the loan from the customer.
She also admits to stealing checks a customer had sent in to make payments on the customer’s loan and used the money for herself.
According to court records, Groat has paid back all the money she took.
Neither her attorney nor a representative with Liberty Savings Bank could be reached for comment.
According to the agreement, Groat could face up to 30 years on each count, although U.S. attorneys will recommend that she receive the minimum of her sentencing guideline. It isn’t known what that would be. Also part of the plea deal is an agreement that Groat will sign an Order of Prohibition with the Office of Thrift Supervision, which would essentially ban her from working in the banking and insurance fields. It isn’t clear how long that ban would last.
An initial appearance for Groat has not been set yet, according to court records.

Local Fifth Third Bank employee arrested on bank fraud charges in Indiana

.A Fifth Third Bank employee was charged with bank fraud after being accused of using customer information to create fraudulent accounts and to gain access real ones, according to court records unsealed this week.Tiffany Nelson was arrested Monday in Hammond and released on a $20,000 unsecured bond.
Nelson allegedly used her employment status with Fifth Third to access customer profiles and accounts -- or create new ones -- between August and November 2009 without customer permission, according to the indictment.It was unknown at which branch Nelson worked, or how much money she is charged with taking in the alleged scheme.Portage attorney Claudia Traficante, who is representing Nelson, did not return a call for comment Tuesday, and Fifth Third Bank declined to talk about the case."We can't offer any comment on an ongoing investigation," said Andrew Hayes, Fifth Third spokesman.When asked whether corporate policy regarding employees with pending criminal charges required job termination or suspension, Hayes said cases are evaluated individually."It just varies depending on the situation," he said. "But if any confidentiality has been breached, we would absolutely remove that person and then begin to repair."Nelson is scheduled to be arraigned in Hammond federal court at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich's courtroom.

Greenwood, Indiana Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud

Robert E. Tolle, 40, Greenwood, Indiana, was sentenced to 22 months in prison today by U.S. District Judge Tonya Walton Pratt after pleading guilty to charges of making fraudulent bank entries. This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI.Tolle, a former Old National Bank (ONB) senior vice-president of commercial lending, was hired by ONB on November 17, 2003, as a commercial relationship manager. While at ONB, Tolle was in charge of handling some of the larger credit relationships of ONB and supervised commercial relationship managers. Tolle had a credit lending authority up to $350,000. In early spring, 2007, ONB started to notice some negative trends with loans in Tolle's loan portfolio. Shortly thereafter, ONB also discovered that ONB loaned $2,778,000 to a real estate investment organization consisting of prior ONB customers for a real estate development. The development project was located in Marion County and was approved for the construction and the development of approximately 180 single family homes and a 20-acre apartment complex. Documents contained in Tolle's loan file indicated that a site inspection was performed on the construction project on August 22, 2007, by an engineering consultant firm. Documents in Tolle's loan file also indicated that the firm provided a construction progress inspection report to ONB for their work, however, the firm stated they did not prepare or submit any such report.Based upon ONB's discovery of these falsified loan documents, Tolle was interviewed by the ONB security manager and admitted that he fabricated the report. Tolle also stated that he fabricated the report because he did not want the loan to be reviewed and/or downgraded by his superiors at the bank.By committing these acts, Tolle enhanced his financial position and compensation potential at ONB. Tolle's act delayed or prevented the reclassification of the loan to a higher risk category and prevented ONB officials from downgrading the classification of the loan in Tolle's portfolio. ONB ultimately charged off this loan. Tolle's creation of false entries in the books and records of ONB were a contributing factor in ONB's loss.According to Assistant U.S. Attorney James Warden, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Walton Pratt also imposed restitution in the amount of $120,001 and three years’ supervised release following Tolle's release from prison.