Banking: Californian banker alleged to have raided customers' accounts - and the bank's vault
Brenda Hurtado liked her job: she liked handling money. It made her all warm and fuzzy. She liked to hold it. It made her feel secure. She liked to keep it in her pocket. It made her feel powerful. And luckily, her job in a bank meant she could get to do all of those things, even though her salary did not support it. Or so the USA's FBI alleges.
25 year old Brenda Bautista Hurtado from Arroyo Grande has been arrested by the FBI which claims jurisdiction over her alleged crime because she stole from a "federally insured financial institution. " She is charged with several offences of dishonesty.
The indictment accuses Hurtado of stealing money while employed last year at the U.S. Bank branch in Arroyo Grande. The indictment alleges that Hurtado stole nearly USD100,000 from two customers’ accounts, as well as another USD10,000 in cash from the bank’s vault.
The investigation in this case revealed that Hurtado secretly accessed U.S. Bank’s computer system and changed the contact information for the accounts of two elderly customers at the bank. After changing their contact information, Hurtado then allegedly closed these accounts and took out cashier’s cheq uesfor the balance of each account.
When one of the customers came to the bank and learned that his account had been closed, Hurtado went into the bank’s vault and took USD10,000 in cash. Hurtado then went to Mexico for several weeks before returning to the United States. She was arrested on 24th May in Guadalupe, California, where she has been staying for the past few months.
The indictment alleges that Hurtado stole USD50,907 on 24 February, 2010 and another USD48,163 on 26 February, 2010. The indictment further alleges that Hurtado stole $10,000 in cash from the bank vault on 7 June, 2010.
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