Credit Union Manager Cops to $175K Embezzlement in Kansas

In U.S. District Court in Topeka, Kan., former credit union manager Karolyn J. Stattelman pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft of credit union funds, admitting she embezzled $93,500.

Stattelman, 42, of Topeka, manipulated accounts at the merged $1.5 million Jayhawk FCU in Lawrence for money orders, share drafts, ATM and returned checks to conceal her theft, according to federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Topeka.

Earlier this year, because of Jayhawk FCU’s poor financial condition, the NCUA approved the cooperative’s consolidation with the $226 million Mid American Credit Union in Wichita.

The 1,092-member credit union posted a net worth of -5% as of Dec. 31, 2013, compared to a peer average of 18%, according to NCUA financial performance reports.

Last year, Jayhawk FCU reported a net loss of $260,047. Though the credit union posted a net gain of $1,692 in 2012 and $1,684 in 2011, it reported net losses to the NCUA of $68,461 in 2010 and $42,409 in 2009.

Stattelman also admitted to allowing a teller steal $81,000 from the credit union, federal prosecutors said.

The teller, Christi Marie Hout, 38, of Lawrence, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Topeka to one count of theft of credit union funds.

In her plea, Hout admitted to writing checks on her personal account and her husband’s business account, and then posting ATM debits when there were insufficient funds in the accounts to cover the transactions, according to federal prosecutors.

Hout used credit union funds to pay personal expenses, and admitted she Stattelman was covering up the thefts, federal prosecutors said.

Sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled for Stattelman and Hout, federal prosecutors said. They each face a maximum of 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

Former Bank Employee in Neosho County Sentenced for Embezzling More than $278,000

  A former employee of a bank in Neosho County was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in federal prison for embezzling more than $278,000 from the bank and two customers.

  U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said 42 year old Sherrie Landell of Erie pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee. In her plea, she admitted that from September 2007 to May 2013 she embezzled from Exchange State Bank.  Landell worked in the bank’s branch in St. Paul.   She was responsible for maintaining the bank’s general ledger account and an account designated for accounts receivable on certificates of deposit. Money she stole included interest due on certificates of deposit. She fraudulently altered the bank’s records to conceal the crime. The shortage was discovered during a bank regulatory exam and subsequent audit by an independent accounting firm in 2013.  Grissom commended the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.

Former bank employee sentenced for embezzling

 A 42-year-old Neosho County woman has been sentenced to about a year in federal prison for embezzling more than $278,000 from a bank branch and two customers.

The office of U.S. Attorney for Kansas said in a release Monday that Sherrie Landell of Erie, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee and admitted that from September 2007 to May 2013 she embezzled from Exchange State Bank. She worked at the bank’s branch in St. Paul.

Landell’s also accused of fraudulently altering the bank’s records to conceal the crime.

The prosecutor’s office says the shortage was discovered during a bank regulatory exam and subsequent audit in 2013.

Two Former Bank Employees Sentenced For Embezzlement, Staged Robbery

Two former bank employees sentenced to five months in federal prison for embezzling and staging a robbery to cover up the theft.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Thursday that 32 year old Amber Gutierrez and 29 year old Ashley Cravens, both from Ulysses, each pleaded guilty for embezzling about $84,000 over 2 years from the Western State Bank in Ulysses.
In July 2010 the women took part in a staged robbery, and continued to embezzle another $24,500 from the bank. In addition to five months in prison, the women will have to spend five months in a halfway house.

Final defendant in embezzlement from southwest Kansas bank pleads guilty

A fourth defendant in the embezzlement of up to $84,000 from a southwest Kansas bank has pleaded guilty.

The U.S. Attorney's office says 33-year-old Hattie Wiginton pleaded guilty Monday to one count of theft from Western State Bank in Ulysses. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison at her sentencing March 24.

Three of Wiginton's former co-workers at the bank pleaded guilty earlier. Ashley Cravens, Linda Wise and Amber Gutierrez, all of Ulysses, will be sentenced in February.

Prosecutors said the defendants began stealing in 2008 by making deposits into each other's accounts, hiding the shortage by lying about the balance in the bank's vault.

In July 2010, three of the women staged a holdup of the bank to cover up the shortage of cash in the bank.

Former Bank Branch Manager in Garden City Sentenced for Embezzlement

A former branch manager at Landmark National Bank in Garden City, Kansas, has been sentenced for embezzling more than $99,000 from the bank, United States Attorney Barry Grissom said today. Sheri L Green, 52, Garden City, Kansas, was sentenced Monday to three years’ supervised release and ordered to pay $99,060 in restitution. She pleaded guilty to one count of misapplication of bank funds by a bank employee. In her plea, she admitted that in December 2012, while she was employed as branch manager for Landmark National Bank in Garden City, the bank discovered she had embezzled approximately $99,600 from the bank to cover her gambling losses.

She took the money by shifting money between customer accounts. Several customers had noticed irregular entries in their bank statements and complained to Green. She corrected the withdrawals by shifting money from other accounts to the complaining customer’s accounts to cover her tracks. Grissom commended the FBI and Assistant United States Attorney Barry Grissom for their work on the case.

Second bank employee pleads guilty to embezzling in Kansas

A second former bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling money from a Ulysses bank, less than a week after another former employee of the bank pleaded guilty in the same case, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.
Ashley Cravens, 29, Ulysses, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of theft from a bank and admitted in her plea that she and other former bank employees embezzled from the bank and staged a robbery.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, from 2008 to July 24, 2010, while Cravens worked at Western State Bank in Ulysses, she and two co-defendants embezzled approximately $84,200 from the bank. Co-defendant Amber Gutierrez, 32, Ulysses, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of theft from the bank. Hattie Wiginton, 33, Ulysses, is also a co-defendant in the case.
With her plea, Cravens also admitted that on July 24, 2010, she aided and abetted a staged bank robbery, and subsequent to the staged bank robbery, she took part in the embezzlement of another $24,450 from the bank.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gutierrez and Linda Wise, 60, Ulysses, are co-defendants in the subsequent embezzlement case.
Wiginton is accused of making false statements to the FBI, including false claims that she did not know who robbed the bank, that there were two robbers and that one of the robbers was a male with an Hispanic accent.
All four defendants are accused of creating falsified cash deposit slips and depositing funds into their own accounts.
Cravens is set for sentencing Feb. 7, and Gutierrez is set for sentencing Feb. 4.
Wiginton was charged with two counts of embezzlement by a bank employee, one count of bank robbery and one count of making a false statement to the FBI. She is set for jury trial Dec. 17.
Wise was charged with one count of embezzlement by a bank employee and is set for jury trial Dec. 17.

Kansas woman charged with embezzling from bank

A former assistant branch manager has been charged with embezzling $346,000 from the Wichita bank where she worked.
The U.S. attorney's office says 43-year-old Lisa Marie Evans, of Wichita, was indicted Wednesday on one count of embezzlement by a bank employee. The indictment alleges she stole the money between 2011 and 2013 while employed at Southwest National Bank.
Court records do not list a lawyer for Evans, and the U.S. attorney's office said it did not know if she had hired one. No working phone listing for her could be found.
Evans has been summoned for a first court appearance on Nov. 25.
The charge carries maximum penalties of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The government is also seeking a forfeiture judgment

Former employee sentenced for credit union theft in Kansas

A woman has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for embezzling from a local credit union, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Carla Welborn was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay $329,702 in restitution, according to information from James Cross, spokesman for the U.S. attorney of Kansas.
The crime occurred between January 2009 and January 2012 while Welborn worked at the Credit Union of Leavenworth County at the Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth.
In November, Welborn pleaded guilty to the single count of embezzlement from a credit union.
According to a written plea agreement in the case, Welborn took money from the vault of the credit union's branch office on the VA grounds.
She also reportedly targeted the accounts of credit union members who didn't receive monthly balance statements as well as those who lived out of town or were ill. She redirected mailed statements so account holders wouldn't notice they were missing funds.
If affected account holders requested statements, she sent them fraudulent documents, according to the written plea agreement.

A former credit union employee, sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for embezzlement, targeted accounts of 23 members who were either ill, near death or who lived out of town to steal more than $300,000 over four years, according to court documents.

Carla Welborn, who worked at the Veterans Administration Medical Center branch of the $7 million Credit Union of Leavenworth County in Lansing, Kansas, was also ordered by a U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil in Kansas City on July 30 to pay restitution of $28,002 to the credit union and $329,702 to the CUNA Mutual Group.

The documents did not reveal Welborn's title at the credit union.

CULC, which has 1,650 members, was chartered in 1956 to serve veterans, though it also serves businesses, government agencies and individuals in Leavenworth County.

Court documents show Welborn befriended many members and performed extra services for them, such as reconciling accounts and helping them pay bills, even though she was not required by the credit union to provide these services.

In addition to targeting accounts of members who were ill, near death or who lived out of town, Welborn also targeted accounts of members that she knew were not receiving monthly balance statements.

Federal prosecutors said Welborn would redirect some credit union members’ mailed statements to the bank so account holders would not notice their accounts were missing funds. And when account holders wanted statements, Welborn would mail them fraudulent statements. To keep track of the stolen money, she kept a handwritten ledger with amounts taken from each account.

Eventually, according to court documents, Welborn would write checks payable to the credit union’s bank (Country Club Bank) if there was not enough cash on hand at the credit union for her to steal. Country Club Bank would cash the checks because Welborn would indicate that the funds would be used to replenish the “petty cash account” at the credit union.

In 2010, when the credit union changed its correspondent bank to Missouri Corporate Credit Union, the “petty cash” replenishments went directly to the main office in Lansing. Because Welborn did not have access to sufficient cash on hand to steal, she began taking the money out of members’ accounts.

Welborn also took money out of the credit union’s vault, according to court documents. Although the money in the vault was supposed to be counted by at least two employees, Welborn had been covering her tracks by using her son who was working with her at VA Medical Center branch.

“Welborn would often tell her son….the vault was counted and there was no need for him to do it,” court documents state.

Welborn’s son has not been charged by federal prosecutors.

When the credit union became aware of the fraud, an accounting firm was hired to conduct a comprehensive audit, which revealed Welborn stole $304,000 from 23 credit union members from Jan. 1, 2009 to Jan. 26, 2012.

4 Former Employees Charged In Staged Kansas Bank Robbery

Four western Kansas women have been indicted, accused of embezzling from the bank where they worked and staging a robbery to cover the thefts.

On Thursday, an indictment was unsealed charging four former employees of Western State Bank in Ulysses with the following crimes:

-32-year-old Amber Gutierrez of Ulysses is charged with two counts of embezzlement by a bank employee and one count of bank robbery.
-32-year-old Hattie Wiginton of Ulysses is charged with two counts of embezzlement by a bank employee, one count of bank robbery and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
-28-year-old Ashley Cravens of Ulysses is charged with two counts of embezzlement by a bank employee and one count of bank robbery.
-59-year-old Linda Wise of Ulysses is charged with one count of embezzlement by a bank employee.
The indictment alleges that from 2008 until July of 2010, Gutierrez Wiginton and Cravens embezzled more than $84,000 from the bank. The three then allegedly staged a robbery of the bank, taking an undetermined amount of cash. Wiginton reportedly told the FBI that that two men robbed the bank, and one spoke with a Hispanic accent.

The indictment continues that Gutierrez, Cravens and Wise embezzled an additional $24,000 from the bank from late 2010 until March of this year. They allegedly created falsified cash deposit slips and deposited funds into their own accounts.

If convicted, they face up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1,000 on each count of theft, 25 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the bank robbery charge and up to 5 years and a fine up to $250,000 for making a false statement to the FB

Former bank manager charged with embezzlement in Kansas

A former branch manager at a Garden City bank has been charged with embezzling thousands of dollars from the bank.

Prosecutors charged Sheri Green, 52, with one count of misapplication of bank funds Tuesday. The indictment alleges that she stole more than $99,000 from Landmark National Bank from Aug. 16, 2012, to Dec. 26, 2012.

If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Woman sentenced to probation for embezzlement in Kansas

A former employee of a northeast Kansas credit union has been sentenced in federal court to two years of probation for embezzling $85,000 from the company.

The U.S. Attorney's office says Deborah Bomia, of Enterprise, must also pay $85,000 in restitution to Enterprise Credit Union under the sentence she received Tuesday.

Bomia pleaded guilty last July to the crime, which occurred between April 2005 and August 2011. She admitted kiting checks between accounts in her name at the credit union to create fictitious balances.

Prosecutors said Bomia would record a large deposit in the credit union's general ledger near the end of the month but not make the deposit for several weeks, when another large check would be drafted out of her credit union checking account.

Solomon woman sentenced to 3 years, fined for embezzlement in Kansas

A northeast Kansas woman who said she embezzled from the credit union where she worked to save the family farm has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 48-year-old Pamela Emig, of Solomon, must also pay $817,000 in restitution under the sentence she received Monday.
Emig pleaded guilty in November to one count of embezzling from Enterprise Credit Union, in Enterprise, between 2005 and 2011. She was a manager and kited checks between accounts under her control to cover up the thefts.
Defense attorney Christopher Joseph says in a filing that Emig was a conscientious employee for nearly 30 years until desperation influenced her “aberrant actions.”
The thefts began when she and her husband filed for bankruptcy and had no money to feed their cattle.

Former Kansas bank teller sentenced for embezzlement

From SFGate.com

A former teller at a northeast Kansas bank will spend 10 months in home confinement for embezzling more than $27,000 from the bank.

The U.S. Attorney's office says 23-year-old Brittney L. Crane will also serve two years of supervised release under the sentence she received Monday.

Crane worked at a branch of US Bank in Kansas City, Kan. In a guilty plea she entered in August, she admitted processing forged counter withdrawal slips totaling $27,700 in late 2011.

A video recording of one transaction showed her processing a forged withdrawal slip for 20-year-old Cierra Clayborn at a drive-thru window. Investigators said the two women met later in the day to split up the money.

Clayborn, also of Kansas City, Kan., has pleaded guilty to bank embezzlement and faces sentencing Dec. 3.

Wurm pleas guilty to aiding theft in Topeka, Kansas

A Jefferson County man who diverted more than $100,000 from Meriden State Bank by padding construction costs of a Topeka branch pleaded guilty Monday to bank embezzlement, U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said.

Michael R. Wurm, 49, of Meriden, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of aiding and abetting theft by a bank officer, a charge stemming from helping former Meriden State Bank president Scott Becker take money from the bank. Grissom's office said Wurm admitted to helping Becker embezzle funds in 2001 and 2002.
Grissom said Wurm admitted in his plea that Becker convinced the bank's board to construct a branch on S.W. Fairlawn Road in Topeka, and that Becker and Wurm concealed from the board the fact that Becker would be serving as the undisclosed general contractor on the project. Prosecutors said Becker falsely represented to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that no insider would be involved or benefit from the construction of the branch in order to receive approval for the project.
To conceal his involvement, prosecutors said Becker had Wurm inflate billings from Louis Droge Construction to cover draw requests to the bank for construction of the branch. Becker then approved the draw requests, which totaled more than $385,000. Prosecutors said Wurm collected about $115,206 more from the bank than the amount Wurm paid to Droge Construction, with that money going to Becker.
Wurm is set for sentencing March 21. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million.
Co-defendant Scott Becker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. Co-defendant Stephanie R. Smith pleaded guilty and is set for sentencing Jan. 24.

4 charged in alleged abduction, Kan. bank robbery

A teller who was found bound to a chair at a suburban Kansas City bank is among four people charged with stealing money from the facility.

Twenty-year-old Michael Grace told police Wednesday he had been abducted from outside his apartment complex that morning and forced to drive to the U.S. Bank branch in Overland Park where he worked. Grace said his abductor forced him to open the bank and then robbed it.
A federal complaint filed Friday says Grace, 18-year-old Brenden L. Connors, 20-year-old David Batson and 28-year-old Jacob McWhirt admitted the robbery was staged. All are from Overland Park.
The four are charged with theft/embezzlement/misapplication by a bank officer and are scheduled for a court hearing Friday afternoon.

Archer County Bank Manager Charged with Embezzlement in Kansas

Archer County Sheriff's Lieutenant Jack McGuinn says 34-year-old Thomas Jason Allen was a branch manager at Archer City American National Bank.
McGuinn says last friday a bank clerk discovered money was missing when she got $10,000 out of the vault to cash a customer's check.


Investigators say $300 was reported missing from each one thousand dollar stack and that's when an audit was conducted.

Topekan Accused Of Embezzlement Misses Sentencing

A Topeka woman who pleaded no contest to embezzling funds from a Topeka bank was a no-show at her sentencing and now has a warrant for her arrest.The Shawnee County District Attorney’s office says Aubrie Angel committed the crimes in May and June of last year, embezzling from Capital Federal Bank.Court documents show she had also faced a theft charge from the Topeka Target store, but that charge was dismissed when she made her plea on the embezzling charge.Angel’s attorney appeared for her sentencing last Friday, but she didn’t.There is now a warrant for her arrest.Ironically, Kansas law normally specifies probation for persons convicted in what is called a level-8, non-person felony.

Ex Kansas City credit union manager admits embezzling nearly $400,000

A former manager of The Kansas City Star’s credit union pleaded guilty today in federal court to embezzling nearly $400,000 during a four-year period.
Joyce Buchanan, 55, of Kansas City, waived her right to have the case heard by a grand jury, and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to charges of bank fraud and theft from a credit union.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 60 years in prison. A sentencing date will be scheduled later.
According to federal prosecutors, Buchanan engaged in the fraud scheme from late 2002 to early 2007 while branch manager at Media First Credit Union, which is now First Financial Credit Union, located in The Star’s building at 1729 Grand Blvd.
She admitted to embezzling nearly $200,000 and falsely telling the credit union that she made another $200,000 in loans to individuals when she actually pocketed the money for her own use.
A federal judge sentenced a Claycomo woman to two years in prison Wednesday for embezzling nearly $400,000 from the credit union that she managed.




Joyce Buchanan, 56, pleaded guilty to theft and bank fraud in May, admitting that she took almost $200,000 from a credit union that serves employees of The Kansas City Star.



She also made $426,678 in improper loans to non-members of the credit union. Of those loans, more than $268,000 is in default. Most of the fraudulent loans were referrals from her son, prosecutors said.

Meriden, Kansas Bank Embezzlement Trial Rescheduled

A trial for three people accused of embezzling more than $2 million from a Meriden bank has been rescheduled. .
Scott Becker, Stephanie Smith and Michael Wurm were supposed to attend their jury trial on April 27th.
The three will instead stand trial on January 25th of next year.
The delay will give attorneys a chance to examine the 78,000 pages of court documents.
Becker was the former president of Countryside Bank in Meriden.
Becker, Smith and Wurm are all charged with one count of conspiracy to commit embezzlement of more than $2 million dollars and 33 counts of theft.