Bank worker gave up customer identities in plot to steal thousands from banks, feds say

A woman working for a bank sold customers’ identities as part of a plot to steal thousands of dollars from branches in multiple states, federal prosecutors said.

The Regions Bank employee gave up customers’ names, ID card numbers and bank account numbers to others involved in the scheme, according to court documents. Then, those individuals took trips to steal from Regions Bank branches in Florida, Alabama, Iowa and Missouri, officials said.

More than $125,000 was stolen from the banks in 2019, prosecutors said.

The bank employee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced in a Feb. 24 news release.

Her sentencing is scheduled for May 22.

Meanwhile, prosecutors announced three others involved in the scheme have been sentenced in Pensacola federal court.

McClatchy News contacted attorneys listed for the Regions Bank employee and the three defendants Feb. 26, and did not immediately receive a response.

More on the bank fraud scheme

After the bank employee sold customers’ identities, another woman involved in the scheme was provided with fake ID cards with the customers’ stolen information, according to an indictment. However, the ID cards included an image of the woman and not the person identified, officials said.

The woman was also given fake credit cards, the customers’ bank account numbers as well as fake money orders or checks, the indictment said.

Then, she’d walk into a Regions Bank and impersonate a customer to withdraw money, according to prosecutors. The money was split among people participating in the scheme, the indictment said.

Now, the woman was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, prosecutors said.

At least 18 Regions Bank customers were victims of identity theft, according to the indictment.

A man who officials said paid the bank employee for the stolen customers’ information and joined in on the trips to steal from banks was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said.

Another man who officials said went on these trips was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said.

The Regions Bank branches targeted in northern Florida included locations in Tallahassee, Bonifay, DeFuniak Springs, Panama City and more, the indictment shows.

Two other people named as co-conspirators in the case are being prosecuted in New York for “a separate but related indictment,” according to officials.

This story was originally published February 26, 2023 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Bank worker gave up customer identities in plot to steal thousands from banks, feds say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.