Federal prosecutors alleged last week that a former teller stole more than $526,000 from member accounts at an Arizona credit union over four years.
James Roy Entzminger, a former teller for the $57 million Banner Federal Credit Union in Phoenix, was charged with one count of embezzlement, four counts of fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft, according to an indictment filed in Arizona’s U.S. District Court on March 28.
Entzminger allegedly took $526,999 starting in December 2009 through January 2014 from about a dozen individual and joint member accounts that had infrequent transactions.
The former teller allegedly removed funds from accounts via cash withdrawals, issued unauthorized official checks from members’ accounts, forged their signatures and cashed the money out of his teller drawer, according to the indictment.
He also allegedly posted fictitious deposits to member accounts and modified members’ account settings to change their home address to a fake home address to prevent members from receiving account statements.
In at least one instance, Entzminger used a member’s personal information, including a Social Security number, to transfer $35,000 from the member’s individual retirement account, according to court documents. In other instances, Entzminger stole cash in varying amounts from $1,900 to $9,000 and wrote $26,000 in checks from member accounts.
Prosecutors did not explain how the alleged crimes were discovered.
Entzminger is scheduled to be arraigned on the felony charges on April 12.
