Banking: "Woman of the year" arrested on suspicion of embezzling customers money
In 2008, bank manager Jerri Sell was named Woman of the Year by the town of Tulane in California. That was before suspicions arose that she was embezzling large sums from customers' accounts.
Yesterday, California's Attorney General Edmund Brown announced that Sell had been arrested on charges that she purloined some USD700,000 from accounts at customers at the Tulane branch of Citizens Bank where she was the manager.
Many of the victims were her friends, Brown's office said.
Brown's office said
"One couple lost USD203,110.27. In reviewing a long list of unauthorised withdrawals, the wife demonstrated that it was impossible she had made them. For example, a withdrawal for USD4,000 on 17 March, 2006, she could not have made because she was out of town at a pistachio convention. Another withdrawal was made at the same moment she was getting a body wrap treatment.
"Another customer lost USD298,000. A bank employee said Sell requested USD50,000 in cash for the customer, then took the funds from the vault and placed the money in a zippered bag.
"Sell was able to hide her theft from bank customers by placing mail holds on their accounts so they would not have access to their banks statements. When the unauthorised transactions were discovered, Sell claimed the cause was computer error and, in one case, alleged that a customer had been the victim of identity [fraud].
"When the scheme was starting to unravel because of an internal bank audit, Sell left a voicemail for one customer who lost USD84,575, saying, “I want to apologise, I’ve done some things on your account that I’m not proud of. I’m thinking of killing myself. Please call me back.”
"Sell’s bank accounts showed unexplained deposits of more than USD500,000, and the investigation revealed Sell had made ATM withdrawals at the Tachi Palace Resort and Casino in Lemoore of more than USD379,000. Investigators concluded that Sell had a gambling issue and was losing money.
"Sell had been a respected member of the Tulare community for more than three decades. Besides being named the Tulare Chamber of Commerce’s Woman of the Year in 2008, Sell was also a grand marshal of the Tulare County Fair Parade and was active in raising money for local bond drives."
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