Bank embezzlement trial gets underway

Testimony began today in the federal trial of a former bank manage accused of stealing $336,000 from his bank.

Michael Bernick, 50, of Stanton Heights, former director of Metropolitan Savings Bank in Lawrenceville, was charged in March with theft, embezzlement and misappropriation by a bank officer following an FBI investigation.

Agents said Mr. Bernick paid himself from the bank's money in the form of checks and wire transfers between April 2005 and March 2007.

The former vice president of the bank, Donna Shebetich, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false reports with regulators to hide the bank's dire finances. The bank was shut down in 2007.

Shebetich is serving six years in federal prison. She was also ordered to pay more than $10 million in restitution.

As other banks started foreclosing on his rental properties, a former director of a defunct Lawrenceville community bank used his position to siphon more than $401,000 to save those properties, a federal prosecutor said on Monday in federal court.

Michael P. Bernick, 51, of Stanton Heights was partially responsible for the failure of the historic Metropolitan Savings Bank, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bloch told a federal jury during opening statements in Bernick's criminal trial.

“This was a sum of money that, you will hear, threatened the bank's very existence,” she said.

A federal grand jury indicted Bernick on 10 counts of theft, embezzlement or misappropriation by a bank officer. Each count carries a possible sentence of 30 years in prison.

Bernick's attorney, James Brink, denied that Bernick was trying to steal from the bank.

He used an informal loan process that several other bank officials used, he said. They would get the money first and submit paperwork later on. The FDIC in 2007 came in and seized the bank before Bernick could file the paperwork on loans he took out in 2005 and 2006, Brink said.

“Sloppy? Yes,” Brink said. “Was it proper? Probably not. But he just took advantage of what everyone else was doing.”

Bernick became a customer of the bank in 2002 and obtained three legitimate loans. Then he began dating Donna Shebetich, the bank's vice president, and became one of the bank's directors in 2004, Bloch said.

When Bernick started taking money out of the bank, neither he nor Shebetich mentioned it to the other directors during their monthly board meetings, she said.

Shebetich, 49, pleaded guilty in June 2011 to filing false reports with bank regulators to disguise the bank's poor financial condition before it suddenly shut down in February 2007.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab in November 2011 sentenced her to six years in prison, five years of probation and ordered her to pay $10.2 million in restitution to the FDIC and 24 other individuals and businesses.

The trial is scheduled to continue for most of the week.

Embezzlement charges filed against Lehighton woman

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg a criminal information has been filed against Shelly Ann Kocher, 42, of Lehighton.

She is accused of embezzling about $316,324 from customer accounts while she worked as a customer service supervisor at Jim Thorpe National Bank in Jim Thorpe.

A plea agreement was also filed indicating that Kocher intends to plead guilty to the charge when she appears in federal court for her arraignment.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith, Kocher was employed by Jim Thorpe National Bank from 1999 until May 2013. Kocher allegedly embezzled the funds by making unauthorized withdrawals from customers' CD and savings accounts between April 2010 and April 2013.

When it was discovered, the bank reimbursed the victims for their losses.

If convicted, Kocher faces up to 30 years imprisonment, $1 million in fines, and mandatory restitution.

The case was investigated by the Scranton office of the FBI and is assigned to Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, a criminal information has been filed against Shelly Ann Kocher, 42, Lehighton, Pennsylvania, for embezzling approximately $316,324 from customer accounts while she worked as a customer service supervisor at Jim Thorpe National Bank in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. A plea agreement was also filed indicating that Kocher intends to plead guilty to the charge when she appears in federal court for her arraignment.According to U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith, Kocher was employed by Jim Thorpe National Bank from 1999 until May 2013. Kocher allegedly embezzled the funds by making unauthorized withdrawals from customers’ CD and savings accounts between April 2010 and April 2013. Upon discovery of the activity, the bank reimbursed the victims for their losses.

If convicted, Kocher faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment, $1 million in fines, and mandatory restitution.

The case was investigated by the Scranton Resident Agency of the FBI and is assigned to Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler.



Indictments and criminal informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances, and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public, and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational, and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

Pittsburgh man accused of defrauding banks, individuals of millions

FROM TRIBLIVE.COM -

Joseph Graziano Jr. flaunted his wealth.

He flashed cash and frequented VIP sections in casinos, friends said. He rented a swanky Squirrel Hill condo for a year, paying cash upfront, a former landlord said. He bragged on a blog that he paid cash for his first Lamborghini and a Bentley.

“I loved it. It was empowering,” Graziano, 28, of Downtown wrote at blackcardstatus.com. “... I walked out with the Lamborghini, and the title. I owned it. No leinholder (sic), it was a rush!”

It was a lie, according to investigators.

In an indictment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Graziano embezzled nearly $2.5 million from Bank of New York Mellon Corp. while working there; took out bank loans and offered expensive cars he no longer owned as collateral; and ripped off eBay customers by accepting thousands of dollars for electronics and sending buyers empty boxes.

Graziano pleaded not guilty on Oct. 22 to 14 counts of bank fraud, bank embezzlement and mail fraud. The crimes carry a potential prison sentence of 380 years and an $11 million fine.

Graziano could not be reached. A man who answered his cellphone hung up.

Free on an unsecured $25,000 bond, he remains in Western Pennsylvania, said his attorney, Martin Dietz, who would not comment. Graziano's family declined to comment.

But the indictment, former friends and associates, and what remains of Graziano's social media footprint document the derailment of an extravagant life.

“I've experienced more at my age than most people will in their entire lifetime,” Graziano blogged in July.

REMAKING HIS IMAGE

Graziano, the son of an insurance broker, lived in the small town of Hawley, near Scranton, before enrolling at the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in economics, Pitt spokesman Adam Reger said.

He apparently was an unremarkable student: Reger said department officials “didn't come up with anyone who remembers this student.”

Soon after graduating, however, he landed the BNY Mellon job and began remaking his image.

He posted videos of himself driving his Lamborghini, a Gallardo Superleggera. With his personalized license plate reading BNKRUPT, he drove the car to events organized by Pittsburgh Cars and Coffee, a group of rare- and expensive-car enthusiasts. At a recent gathering in Cranberry, members declined to comment.

He showed off his second Lamborghini — a 2010 Murcielago valued at $495,000, according to investigators — at black-tie events where people recalled his charm and confidence, posing for photos. Graziano appeared in at least four photos in 2011 and 2012 in the Tribune-Review's Fanfare section, which documents society events.

Though he worked as a corporate trust administrator at BNY Mellon, on his blog he styled himself a successful young entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurship is in my DNA,” he wrote. “I live for innovation and the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources.”

In reality, authorities said, he was defrauding banks and people of millions.

In 2008, Dollar Bank extended him a loan to buy his Downtown condominium, federal agents said. To do so, Graziano falsified bank statements to show he had $115,320.44 in Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, investigators said. His actual balance was less than $9.

Public records show he purchased the condo at 151 Fort Pitt Blvd. for $211,000.

Graziano began embezzling from BNY Mellon in 2009, authorities said. Over three years, he orchestrated 27 fraudulent wire transfers to siphon $2,441,294.35 from the bank's accounts into his own, according to the indictment.

BNY Mellon officials declined to comment.

LIFESTYLE ‘ESCALATED'

Flush with cash, Graziano lived the life of a high roller, friends said. He bragged about his Rolex watches and expensive cars. Videos of high-speed drives in his Lamborghini remain online.

He dated a series of attractive girlfriends and boasted of mob connections, friends said.

“The cars, the whole lifestyle — it just escalated. Nobody wants to be associated with him anymore,” said one former friend, who did not want to be named because she fears for her safety.

He obtained fraudulent loans, authorities said, conning $226,649.81 from First Niagara Bank and $130,000 from First Commonwealth Bank. In many cases, he used cars he had sold as collateral.

When he sought a $250,000 loan from AmeriServ Financial Bank last year, a loan officer asked to inspect his Lamborghini, according to the indictment. Graziano, who traded the car for a Bentley in 2011, said the vehicle was in storage in New York, investigators said.

Graziano claimed in loan documents to earn $21,000 a month by running a hedge fund business called Profinity. Authorities contend Profinity was a front and that he reported income of just $7,104 on tax returns.

The personal loans paid gambling debts, said investigators and friends. A Rivers Casino employee described Graziano as a “good customer,” meaning he spent a lot of money.

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board officials said they don't comment on earnings and losses for individual players.

David Airey, a graphic designer in Northern Ireland, said Graziano hired him to produce a logo for Profinity; a testimony from Graziano praising that work remains on Airey's webpage. Airey said he was surprised to hear of Graziano's indictment.

“He paid me on time and was a good client to deal with,” Airey told the Trib in an email.

‘SECRETS, SHORTCUTS'

On his blog, Graziano wrote about when to use cash or credit on large purchases and how to pick up women at nightclubs. Among his tips: Never show your socks.

“You heard me, smelly,” he wrote. “Buy a pair of low profile socks and throw them on under your loafers or dress shoes. It will show just the right amount of skin and draw attention to your beautiful Italian leather shoes.”

American Express Co. sued Graziano in September, claiming the blog name — blackcardstatus — is a trademark infringement.

Black Card is slang for the company's Centurion Card, which American Express described as “the most prestigious and difficult-to-obtain American Express card (that is) available only to a tiny percentage of American Express cardholders (and) has become a symbol of unique status, extreme luxury, and unparalleled financial success.”

Graziano has not responded to the lawsuit.

“I'm going to tell you where I messed up, so you don't make those same mistakes,” Graziano wrote. “I'm going to tell you secrets and shortcuts I've came across that have saved me time, money, and much more. ... Just know that you are getting the real deal. Word for word, picture for picture, tweet for tweet.”

Former Bank Employee Charged with Embezzlement in Pennsylvania

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the filing of a criminal information in U.S. District Court in Scranton Wednesday charging Patricia A. Tokash, age 42, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, with bank embezzlement.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Tokash was an employee of the M & T Bank branch located at 15 South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. While employed at the bank, Tokash worked in the Government Loan Department and was responsible for administering and processing applications for M & T Bank loans to counties, townships, and municipalities. The criminal information alleges that between April 2011 and April 2012, Tokash embezzled approximately $62,995.66 in bank funds from fees paid in connection with loan applications, and/or from accounts at the M & T Bank, and converted the funds to her own use.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Prosecution is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney John Gurganus.

Criminal informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

In this particular case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 30 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances, and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public, and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational, and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant

Former Montgomery County Credit Union CEO Gets Retrial In Embezzlement Case in Pennsylvania

The former CEO of a Montgomery County credit union is back before a judge for her retrial on charges that she allegedly used credit union funds to pay some of her personal expenses.

Anne Clyburn was convicted in 2010 of stealing more than $32,000 from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 Federal Credit Union

She served nine months behind bars, but the conviction was overturned last year and she was granted a new trial.

Prosecutor Steven Latzer says he’s withdrawn some of the charges related to Clyburn allegedly giving herself unauthorized raises and using a credit card to pay charges that weren’t approved by the Board.

She’s accused of cutting credit union checks to pay dental bills for her husband.

The reduced charges involve much less money than the previous conviction. The trial, which opened Thursday morning, is being heard by a judge rather than a jury

Hyperion Bank Assistant Manager Charged with Embezzlement in Philadelphia

Tiffany Roberson, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged today by indictment with embezzlement of bank funds by a bank employee, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, Roberson, an assistant manager at Hyperion Bank, embezzled and misappropriated approximately $20,000 in money, funds, and assets intrusted to the custody and care of Hyperion Bank and its employees.

If convicted, Roberson faces a total maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, five years’ supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anita Eve.

Federal grand jury charges Ellwood City woman with stealing more than $100,000 from church credit union in Pennsylvania

A federal grand jury has charged an Ellwood City woman with stealing more than $100,000 from a Lawrence County church credit union she used to manage.

Victoria Rozanski, 59, is accused of taking the money “with intent to injure and defraud” from the Ellwood City Holy Redeemer Parish Federal Credit Union between January 2003 and May 2009. She is charged with one felony count of embezzlement of a credit union.

Rozanski declined comment when reached by phone on Wednesday afternoon.

Public records show Ellwood City Holy Redeemer Parish Federal Credit Union has 294 members and assets of less than $1 million. The credit union, which opened in 1935, has no full-time employees.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly issued a summons for Rozanski to appear for an arraignment hearing on May 21.

Second woman sentenced in credit union embezzling scheme in Pennsylvania

 A former assistant manager of a Lawrence County credit union has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to repay nearly $223,000 for her role in an embezzling scheme that also saw her former boss convicted.
Stacy L. Attisano of 1656 Houk Road, Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, will also spend three years on supervised released and must pay the Internal Revenue Service $37,400 in restitution, a federal judge ruled April 19 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

Attisano pleaded guilty in December to embezzlement and four counts of tax evasion.
In January, another Slippery Rock resident and the credit union's former manager, Holly Cowan of 1846 Fairview School Road, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and also ordered to repay $223,000 to Cumis Insurance Society Inc. of Madison, Wisc., the fidelity bond issuer for the now-defunct Lawrence County School Employee Federal Credit Union, formerly in New Castle.
Cumis claimed in a civil suit that the women embezzled about $811,000 from 2004 through 2009 by steering money into an account through falsified deposits and loan payments.
Neither woman responded to the Cumis' civil suit and default judgements were issued against them last year.
Besides embezzling money, the IRS said Attisano filed false tax returns in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 claiming taxable income far less than what she actually had made.
The women were the credit union's only employees, prosecutors said. After the embezzlement was discovered, the credit union was placed in involuntary liquidation by the National Credit Union Administration board in March 2010.
When it was liquidated, the credit union had $2.6 million in assets and 1,085 members.

Woman embezzled more than $129,000 from First National Bank, prosecutors say in Pittsburgh

A Spring Hill woman embezzled more than $129,000 from First National Bank while she was an assistant branch manager and head teller between 2008 and 2011, federal prosecutors say.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Diana Phillips, 39, on charges of bank embezzlement and making false entries in bank records. The indictment doesn't say what branch of the bank she worked at.

There was no listing for Phillips and no attorney listed for her in court records.


According to the indictment, Phillips was an assistant branch manager and head teller at First National Bank. Over a period of roughly three years, Phillips embezzled approximately $129,318.38 from the bank by processing fictitious general ledger transactions and making cash-in deposits into an account owned by a family member. The defendant then transferred money from the family member’s account into accounts controlled by her and/or her husband.

Former credit union director charged with embezzlement in Pennsylvania

Prosecutors say a former director of a North Philadelphia credit union stole more than $500,000 from the institution, a theft that contributed to its collapse.

Miqueas Santana, 43, faces charges of money laundering and embezzlement from the Borinquen Federal Credit Union. The charges were filed Thursday and announced today by U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger.
Borinquen, a Hunting Park thrift which for decades served low-income Hispanics in North Philadelphia, collapsed two years ago after investigators uncovered a widespread fraud.
Bank manager Ignacio Morales later admitted to laundering fraudulent IRS refund checks, stealing from bank coffers and trying to arrange cocaine deals. He was sentenced last month to more than seven years in prison.
Morales also confessed to letting a member of the credit union's board of directors overdraw on his accounts. Neither he nor prosecutors had identified the director until Santana was charged this week.
According to charging documents, Santana allegedly siphoned more than $528,000 out of Borinquen accounts between 2009 and 2011 for real estate purchases and expenses related to a check-cashing business he owned.
Santana was charged without an indictment, a step that typically suggests a plea bargain.

Bank chief stole $2.3M, brought down Philly credit union

FROM PHILLY.COM -

A former bank manager from Philadelphia was charged today in embezzling more than $2.3 million from a credit union that he used to try to buy 15 kilograms of cocaine and real estate, federal authorities said.




Ignacio "Nacho" Morales, 40, was manager of the Borinquen Federal Credit Union, which served low-income Hispanics in North Philadelphia. In June 2011, the National Credit Union Association took over BFCU, but within two weeks, closed the credit union and liquidated its assets.



The sudden shuttering of the financial institution puzzled and upset community leaders who, at the time, were not told what had happened.



The court documents explained why.



According to U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger, Morales looted $600,000 in 2008 to buy real estate and allegedly stole $560,000 in 2009 in an attempt to purchase 33 pounds of cocaine.



Part of Morales' alleged scheme involved cashing fake IRS tax return checks. Morales kept 20 percent of the value of each phony check, according to an court records. In addition, he allowed one credit union member to withdrawal $500,000 from an account even though there was nothing in it; took $700,000 that another member attempted to deposit for his personal use, and altered bank records and delivered fake statements to cover up his actions.



Morales is charged with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, misapplication and embezzlement, making false reports on federal credit institution entries, engaging in monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, filing false federal income tax returns, and attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Credit Union Head Teller Charged with Embezzling Funds, Falsifying Records in Pennsylvania

A resident of Coraopolis, Penn., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of bank embezzlement and false entry in financial institution records, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.



The 16‑count indictment named Shirley A. Howl, 55, as the sole defendant.



According to the indictment, Howl was the head teller for the West‑Aircomm Federal Credit Union (FCU). Howl is charged with embezzling approximately $400,000 from West‑Aircomm FCU from Aug. 7, 2007 through Nov. 9, 2009. Howl is also charged with multiple counts of falsifying records at the FCU to conceal the defalcations.



The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 480 years in prison, a fine of $16,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense(s) and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.



Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Hull is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.



The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.



An indictment or information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Bank Employee Charged in Pennsylvania with Embezzling More Than $450,000

A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of embezzlement, United States Attorney David J Hickton announced today. The one-count indictment named Danielle M Keane, 37, as the sole defendant. According to the indictment presented to the court, from on or about April 30, 2007, to on or about August 1, 2010, Danielle M Keane, an employee for the Bank of New York Mellon, embezzled approximately $452,037.06. If convicted, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both.




Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. Assistant United States Attorney James T Kitchen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case. An indictment or information is an accusation.



A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Second former bank teller pleads guilty to embezzlement in Pennsylvania

A second former bank teller has agreed to plead guilty to charges she and a colleague embezzled more than $7,617 from the First Keystone Community Bank in Kingston, according to documents filed Friday in federal court.




Mary Ann Wright and her colleague, Jennifer Sgroi, repeatedly swiped cash from their teller drawers between 2009 and July 2010, federal prosecutors said. They swapped cash from each other's drawers to hide their thefts from monthly bank audits, federal prosecutors said.



Wright, 42, of Kingston, faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine and, under her plea agreement, could be ordered to pay back the full amount of the stolen funds. She has agreed to cooperate with investigators.



Sgroi agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to a theft conspiracy charge. She also faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.



Wright and Sgroi worked as tellers at the First Keystone Community Bank branch on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston, but are "no longer employed" with the company, Lee Hess, a bank vice president, said.



Wright's attorney, Matthew Thomas Comerford, did not return a telephone message Friday.

Bank manager sentenced in mortgage fraud in Pennsylvania

A former Citizens Bank branch manager who provided false documents underlying mortgages will get home confinement and probation, U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer decided today.



Crystal Spreng, 40, of Cabot, ran the Bloomfield branch for Citizens Bank, and won a manager of the year award in 2006, according to court filings. But from 2005 through 2007, according to a June 2009 indictment, she was a bit player in a mortgage fraud ring run by broker Robert Arakelian, who has pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced.



Ms. Spreng's role was to confirm to other lenders borrower bank balances that were not actually in their accounts. Prosecutors accused her of involvement in nine mortgages totaling $608,501, but she pleaded guilty to just one count and argued in pleadings that Mr. Arakelian pasted her signature without her knowledge on some of the documents he used to justify loans.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway argued for, at the very least, confinement in a halfway house. "We cannot have bank managers filling out fraudulent verifications of deposits," he told Judge Fischer. "That has got to stop."



Defense attorney John A. Knorr, though, successfully argued that Mr. Arakelian was "a spider who ensnared" Ms. Spreng in a broader scheme.



Judge Fischer said she was swayed in part by Ms. Spreng's difficult upbringing, her charity work for homeless veterans and others, her close family including three children ages 16 to 21, and the humiliation and career loss she has already suffered.



Ms. Spreng will be allowed to continue working as a waitress during six months of home confinement as part of five years of probation. If prosecutors can identify victims and amounts lost, she will have to pay restitution

Ex-banker sentenced for North Penn embezzlement

A former North Penn Bank executive will spend 14 months in federal prison for embezzling $30,000 from the Scranton bank.

Glenn J. Clark, 37, of Scranton, was sentenced Thursday by Senior U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik after pleading guilty June 3 to embezzlement and making false entries in bank records. The prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.
Mr. Clark, North Penn's former assistant vice president, controller and principal accounting officer, was fired in November 2008 after the bank discovered the embezzlement.
An investigation found he embezzled about $30,000 in bank funds, which he used to pay personal expenses.
He was also accused of manipulating the bank's internal accounts and making numerous fraudulent journal entries in an attempt to conceal substantial shortages instead of reporting them to North Penn's management.

Main Line bank manager facing embezzlement charges in Pennsylvania

A Willistown bank manager is facing 158 charges related to the embezzlement of money from the bank, as well as embezzling from a deceased aunt.Carol B. Weir, 61, was arrested Thursday by Malvern Police after allegedly stealing $43,533 from an ATM machine at the Malvern Federal Bank, where she worked. Police also allege Weir took two checks for $30,000 each that were from a deceased aunt’s investment account and deposited them into her daughter’s account without permission from her aunt’s estate.
The investigation began in August when police were contacted by Malvern Federal. Police eventually learned Weir was in some kind of financial trouble, which led to her allegedly stealing from the ATM machine and her aunt. Police allege she siphoned off cash as she filled the ATM machine, one of her duties as manager.
“I’ve known Carol Weir for years as the manager of Malvern Federal, and it’s unfortunate that it came to this,” said Malvern Police Officer Joseph Cordone, who handled the investigation.
After Weir learned police were investigating her, she resigned from her position at the bank. She and her attorney have since been cooperating with police, Cordone said. Weir allegedly confessed to stealing the money out of the ATM machine, according to court documents.
Among the charges levied against Weir are 13 first-degree felony charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, 11 second-degree felony charges of forgery and a host of third-degree felonies, including theft by deception, identity theft, unlawful use of a computer and computer trespass.
“It was an involved investigation, but we’re satisfied with the result,” Cordone said. “Carol Weir and her attorney are cooperating fully with the police department and the District Attorney’s office.”
Weir was arraigned Thursday before Magisterial District Judge Chester F. Darlington and has since waived her preliminary hearing. Her formal arraignment is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 18 in the county courthouse, according to online court documents.

Monroe County, Pennsylvania Woman Admits to Scheme to Access and Steal from Bank Accounts

Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a Monroe County woman pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge William J. Nealon to participating in a scheme with others to access and unlawfully obtain more than $60,000 from accounts in a New Jersey bank.
Pfannenschmidt stated that Christine Fahmy, age 22, of Sciota, Pennsylvania, admitted to committing the offense in 2008 and early 2009. Fahmy admitted that when she was a teller at J.P. Morgan Chase and Company in Hackettstown, New Jersey, she accessed 12 customer account profiles and sold them to two individuals in Monroe County. As part of the scheme, Fahmy’s two confederates, Lavan Blair and Jonnell Gantt, used the customer profile information to have false identification documents made and used to access the accounts to obtain the money.
Blair and Gantt both previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and attempted bank fraud as aiders and abettors. They are both awaiting sentencing.
Fahmy was charged in an information filed by the United States Attorney’s Office in April 2010. Fahmy’s charge resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Hackettstown, New Jersey, Police.
Pfannenschmidt noted that as a result of the guilty plea, Fahmy faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Nealon scheduled sentencing for September 8, 2010.
Pfannenschmidt noted that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

Former Pennsylvania Bank Official Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement and Making False Entries

Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that Glenn J. Clark, age 37, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling approximately $30,000 and making numerous false entries into North Penn Bank's records that resulted in approximately $488,000 in losses to the bank. As a result of the guilty plea, Clark faces up to 60 years' imprisonment, $2 million in fines and full restitution for any losses caused by his conduct. No date has been set for sentencing.

Hamburg, Pennsylavania woman sentenced for bank embezzlement

A former Hamburg bank teller has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing $286,000 in a six-year period from a local Wachovia Bank. Tonya Marie Lord, 39, of the 700 block of State Street in Hamburg, was sentenced on March 9 by U.S. District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky. Along with her prison sentence, Slomsky ordered Lord to pay restitution in the amount of $284,190.87, which she has reportedly already begun to pay back.
After completion of her prison term, Lord will serve five years on supervised release, during which time she may not engage in any employment that would give her access to money either directly, indirectly or through use of a computer. She may not acquire any new debt nor liquidate any assets during her probation without permission of federal probation officials.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Potts. Lord was represented by Reading attorney Allan S. Sodomsky.
The indictment of Lord on charges of embezzlement of funds by a bank employee was originally handed down by a grand jury on Sept. 3, 2009. She pleaded guilty to the indictment on Nov. 19.
According to the sentencing memorandum filed by Potts on Feb. 8, Lord abused her position at Wachovia Bank, 26 South 4th Street in Hamburg, to steal funds.
Potts said that on more than 100 different occasions, Lord “plotted, and then carried out and concealed, her thefts. Her crime was premeditated and took place over a six-year period.”
Potts went on to say that as custodian of the bank’s automated teller account, Lord was the only person trusted by the bank to oversee the operation and to make sure things were functioning correctly.
“Had someone been responsible for checking Ms. Lord’s handling of the AMT account at the Hamburg branch, her embezzlement would not have gone undetected for so long, and she would not have been able to steal as many times as she did,” Potts wrote.
The district attorney’s office alleged Lord used the money to live beyond her means, using the money to buy drugs, automobiles, motorcycles and other luxury items. Lord also used the money to pay on three overdrawn credit accounts.
In asking for a stiff sentence, Potts said bank thefts were an “all-too-often crime” that needed to be deterred. “Ms. Lord made many extremely irresponsible decisions to steal in a misguided effort to continue chasing a life her family could not afford,” the memorandum stated.
Potts said another theft in the tens of thousands of dollars occurred at the same bank in mid-2009, a case that currently remains unsolved.
“Although no one has yet been charged in that case, the sentence in this case will no doubt be the subject of discussion in the Hamburg and Wachovia communities.”
A Wachovia representative at the Hamburg branch refused comment and referred all questions to Wachovia corporate headquarters.
Lord, who has been free on bond, is to begin serving her sentence on April 26.