Ex-Merrill banker pleads guilty to embezzlement

A former investment banker for Merrill Merchants Bank and People's United Bank pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of embezzling nearly $3 million and evading income taxes.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty said in a press release that an investigation found Lynn Bowden, 62, of Bucksport had transferred around $2,990,000 to her personal accounts through 108 deposits and transfers of customer funds.
Investigators said the embezzlement took place between April 2005 and September 2012. Bowden began working for Merrill Merchants Bank in 2004. She continued to work with Merrill through its acquisition by the Chittenden Corp. in 2007 and its acquisition in 2008 by People's United Bank. Prosecutors said the bank discovered Bowden's illicit transfers in October 2012 and fired her shortly thereafter. At the time, she managed more than 200 trust and investment management accounts. Investigators charged her with evading around $750,000 in federal income tax between 2007 to 2011.
She faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the amount taken on the embezzlement charge. She faces up to five years and a $250,000 fine on the tax evasion charge.

Searsport woman admits embezzling $26,000 from bank customers in Maine

A Waldo County woman admitted Thursday in U.S. District Court that she embezzled more than $26,000 from 48 accounts at the Bangor Savings Bank in Searsport while working as a teller.

Brittany Mace, 23, of Searsport used the money to buy oxycodone illegally, according to the prosecution version of events to which she pleaded guilty.

Mace waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of bank embezzlement, according to information posted on the federal court’s electronic case filing system. She stole the money between Aug. 23, 2010, and Oct. 25, 2011.

A sentencing date has not been sent.

The embezzlement came to light when a Bangor Savings Bank customer noticed a discrepancy in her account and reported it to the bank, the prosecution version of events said. The amounts taken were as low as $20 but several were more than $1,000. Mace admitted she took more than $10,000 from one customer.

She used a variety of methods to steal the money that included: deleting customer transactions and reprocessing them with cash back; using duplicate withdrawal slips; altering the amounts on the ticket; and forging customers’ signatures, the court documents said. Some of the customers Mace took money from were described as disabled in the court document.

The bank has reimbursed customers for their losses, according to the prosecution version.

Mace faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. She also could be ordered to pay restitution to Bangor Savings Bank.

She remains free on $5,000 unsecured bail pending sentencing.

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.

Ex-bank employee scheduled to plead to embezzlement in Warren, Maine

The woman suspected of embezzling about $750,000 from various customers at Camden National Bank is scheduled to enter a guilty plea next week in federal court.

Christina L. Torres-York of Warren is scheduled to enter the pleas to embezzlement and misapplication of funds from Camden National Bank, according to a Jan. 5 letter sent from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland to one of the alleged victims. The victim, who asked that her/his identity not be disclosed, provided The Herald-Gazette with a copy of the letter.
A second alleged victim also confirmed receiving a letter from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"Our office wishes to inform you that based upon our investigation into this matter, it appears there may have been an unauthorized or improperly documented transaction or transactions involving your account(s) at Camden National Bank. This does not mean that your account(s) necessarily incurred any net reduction or loss," the letter stated.
"Nevertheless, we are providing this notice based upon information that your account(s) may have had unauthorized activity in them some time during a period spanning the spring of 2007 into the fall of 2009," the letter stated.
Jonathan Chapman with the U.S. Attorney's Office said that the office cannot comment on any case that has not been publicly filed. No criminal complaint had been filed in U.S. District Court in Portland as of Jan. 7.
Chapman said in other cases, complaints could be filed in advance of a hearing or on the day of the plea. He had no comment on the Torres-York matter.
Torres-York was employed by Camden National Bank for nearly 20 years until she was fired on Oct. 16, 2009, when the bank learned she had withdrawn $749,402 from at least five customers' lines of credit, according to a lawsuit filed by Camden National.
A judge agreed to place a $750,000 lien on Torres-York's property for Camden National's claims and an $82,940 lien on behalf of the Maine Contractors and Builders Alliance Inc. That organization, a statewide builders association, filed its own civil lawsuit against Torres-York.
Torres-York was hired by Camden National Bank in 1990. She worked as a loan officer at its Waldoboro bank. As a loan officer, Torres-York had access to individual bank customers' lines of credit. The bank policy, however, is that a withdrawal from lines of credit must be authorized by the customer.
On Oct. 16, 2009, it came to the bank's attention that Torres-York had been withdrawing funds from customers' lines of credit, according to the bank's lawsuit. She was immediately fired.
The lawsuit states that to date the bank has determined that Torres-York made unauthorized withdrawals from at least five bank customers' lines of credit. The amount totaled $749,402.
On Oct. 19, 2009, the bank discovered a letter from Torres-York that was left in a night depository box. In the letter, according to the lawsuit, she confessed that she "used several lines of credit" and that she was "terribly sorry for the embarrassment [she] caused for Camden National Bank and [her] family."
"I am relieved that this is finally over as I have struggled for a long time with this and it has caused me to not be able to concentrate on my work," her letter stated, according to the bank's lawsuit.
She disbursed the money to eight different accounts. One improper disbursement was for $355,000.
She described how she would like to make partial restitution and said that the ones who scream to get their fees back should get the money from her 401(k) retirement account.
"Again I am so sorry it became a mess," her letter stated, according to the lawsuit. "I will not be in at 8, as I can not hold up my head any longer, ashamed at what has happened and what I have done to so many people that trusted me."
The builders alliance filed a lawsuit Jan. 21, 2010, in Knox County Superior Court in Rockland against Torres-York, claiming she used her position as the organization's treasurer and as an employee of Camden National to siphon off $82,940.
"We struggled. We almost went out of business," the association's president Charlie Huntington said late last year of the impact that the loss of the money had on the alliance.
The alliance's president said the organization had built one home and was well into building another with the assumption that it had sufficient equity in the first structure to complete the second home. That is when the organization learned that Torres-York had taken money from the alliance.
Torres-York served as volunteer treasurer for the Maine Contractors and Builders Alliance for several years until she resigned from the post under threat of removal on Nov. 13, 2009, according to the alliance's lawsuit.
The alliance maintained a checking account at Camden National, a checking account at Bangor Savings Bank, and a line of credit at Bangor Savings. The lawsuit cited several instances of her withdrawing money from the Bangor Savings account held by the association made out to Camden National but the money was never deposited in the Camden National accounts.
The association's checks that Torres-York made out to Camden National were cashed by her at Camden National and she took the cash, the association's lawsuit states.
The association stated that when it heard about the large misappropriation of money from Camden National it checked with Torres-York and learned she was the subject of the investigation. The organization was soon contacted by law enforcement officials.
Torres-York was asked to resign from the association and she did.
Huntington said the bank's position is that Torres-York took the alliance's money through her role as the organization's treasurer and not her position as a bank employee. The alliance's president said, however, that she would not have been able to do what she did if not for her position with the bank.

Old Town, Maine Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Embezzlement

A woman from Old Town faces up to 30 yearin prison for embezzling as much as $30,000 from Bangor Savings Bank.

44-year-old Karen Lebreton pleaded guilty yesterday in U-S District Court in Bangor.
She admitted that when she worked at the bank between December 2008 and November 2009 she took money from at least three customers accounts.
Lebreton requested a teller withdraw the funds in the form of cashier's checks.
Investigators discovered that last year Lebreton deposited six
cashier's checks worth $22,500 into her account at a credit union.
A sentencing date for Lebreton has not been set.

Embezzlement victim awaits word on probe in Maine

The president of a statewide builders association said his organization has not been reimbursed nor given any information concerning the embezzlement of more than $82,000 last year by a bank employee.Charlie Huntington, president of the Maine Contractors and Builders Alliance Inc., said the organization's leaders have been very anxious to hear some news but have heard nothing from either the federal prosecutors or Camden National Bank.The alliance filed a lawsuit Jan. 21 in Knox County Superior Court in Rockland against Christina L. Torres-York of Warren, claiming she used her position as the organization's treasurer and as an employee of Camden National to siphon off $82,940."We struggled. We almost went out of business," Huntington said of the impact that the loss of the money had on the alliance.The organization is a nonprofit corporation with a stated mission of improving the building industry while providing quality housing for Maine people. The alliance has about 175 members comprising the building, banking, insurance and education fields.The alliance's president said the organization had built one home and was well into building another with the assumption that it had sufficient equity in the first structure to complete the second home. That is when the organization learned that Torres-York had taken money from the alliance.Torres-York served as its volunteer treasurer for several years until she resigned from the post under threat of removal on Nov. 13, 2009, according to the alliance's lawsuit.Torres-York was employed by Camden National Bank for nearly 20 years until she was fired on Oct. 16 when the bank learned she had withdrawn $749,402 from at least five customers' lines of credit, according to a separate lawsuit filed by Camden National.The alliance maintained a checking account at Camden National, a checking account at Bangor Savings Bank, and a line of credit at Bangor Savings. The lawsuit cites several instances of her withdrawing money from the Bangor Savings account held by the association made out to Camden National but the money was never deposited in the Camden National accounts.The association's checks that Torres-York made out to Camden National were cashed by her at Camden National and she took the cash, the association's lawsuit states.The association stated that when it heard about the large misappropriation of money from Camden National it checked with Torres-York and learned she was the subject of the investigation. The organization was soon contacted by law enforcement officials.Torres-York was asked to resign from the association and she did.Huntington said the bank's position is that Torres-York took the alliance's money through her role as the organization's treasurer and not her position as a bank employee. The alliance's president said, however, that she would not have been able to do what she did if not for her position with the bank.Camden National issued a brief statement last week saying it too was awaiting action on the criminal investigation. The bank stated that any customers affected by Torres-York's actions were made whole.Torres-York has not been charged with any criminal offenses. A spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland declined last week to comment on the Torres-York matter and would not even confirm that the matter is under investigation.A judge agreed to place a $750,000 lien on Torres-York's property for Camden National's claims and an $82,940 lien on behalf of the builders alliance.