Bank Teller Charged in Fraud Scheme

A former bank teller in Massachusetts has been charged with fraud and aggravated identity theft in a $270,000 fraud scheme. The FBI investigation led to a 25-year-old who worked as a bank teller at a Bank of America branch in Peabody, MA.

Jeffrey Gautreaux, of Peabody, MA, was indicted in US district court on 17 counts of bank fraud, one count of access device fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. The crimes allegedly took place from July 2005 to June 2006, according to Acting US Attorney Michael Loucks. Gautreaux used his position as bank teller to get access to the accounts and personal data of bank customers who deposited money at the branch he worked at on Andover Street. He worked at the branch from November 2004 to February 2006.

Gautreaux then sold the stolen account information to others, who used the data to make unauthorized withdrawals from customers' accounts, states the indictment. Gautreaux shared the proceeds of the unauthorized withdrawals, approximately $270,000, with the others. Unauthorized withdrawals ranged from $2,800 up to $38,100 and hit bank customers from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey, says the indictment.

Should Gautreaux be convicted on these charges, he faces up to 30 years of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count of bank fraud. He will also serve 10 years in prison and three years of probationary release along with a fine of $250,000 for the access device fraud charge and two years to be served consecutively with any other sentence for the aggravated identity theft charges, according to Loucks.

This case comes at the same time that New York indicted 18 people for bank fraud and identity theft after more than $1.4 million in counterfeit checks were cashed at major New York City banks.


About the Author

Linda McGlasson

Linda McGlasson

Managing Editor

Linda McGlasson is a seasoned writer and editor with 20 years of experience in writing for corporations, business publications and newspapers. She has worked in the Financial Services industry for more than 12 years. Most recently Linda headed information security awareness and training and the Computer Incident Response Team for Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC), a subsidiary of the NYSE Group (NYX). As part of her role she developed infosec policy, developed new awareness testing and led the company's incident response team. In the last two years she's been involved with the Financial Services Information Sharing Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), editing its quarterly member newsletter and identifying speakers for member meetings.




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