Federal agents at a West Virginia bank stole $100,000 from customer accounts. He has now been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty.
AP
A former bank teller is headed to prison for stealing nearly $100,000 from West Virginia bank customers, federal prosecutors said.
A man siphoned more than $97,000 from the accounts of five customers over the course of several months, notably through embezzlement while working as a teller at Summit Community Bank in Salem, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.
As a result, the court sentenced the 31-year-old resident of Salem to one year and three months in federal prison Nov. 7 after previously pleading guilty to one count of bank theft and one count of false tax return, the office announced in a news release.
After stealing money from bank customers, prosecutors say the man was caught failing to report the excess money on his 2020 tax return.
What he spent the stolen money on is not specified. However, prosecutors say customers returned the money to Summit Community Bank when they learned of the teller’s theft.
The man’s attorney declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on Nov. 8.
Now, as part of the plea agreement, the man must pay $97,765.30 in restitution to the bank, according to the release. In addition, he owes $27,374.28 in restitution to the IRS.
The conviction came after an investigation by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, according to prosecutors.
Salem is about 135 miles northeast of Charleston.
