A former employee of the $2.9 billion Travis Credit Union, and embezzlement suspect, is also an FBI suspect for robbing a credit union and three other banks about a month after he quit his job at the Vacaville-Calif.-based TCU.
The FBI arrested Corey Johnson, 31, of Vacaville Wednesday. He was advised of the pending charge of bank robbery against him in U.S. District Court in Sacramento Thursday.
Before he allegedly committed the bank robberies, however, Johnson also is suspected of embezzling more than $36,000 from member accounts by using ATM cards, according to a criminal complaint.
In a sworn affidavit of Michael Miller, a task force officer with the FBI’s Sacramento division, Johnson is suspected of robbing the branch of the $147 million Solano First Federal Credit Union inside a Raley’s grocery store in Fairfield on December 28. After passing to a teller a handwritten note claiming he had a gun and demanded money, the teller handed over more than $3,000. During this robbery, he wore a black and gray Oakland Raider’s baseball cap, a black hooded sweater, a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black and white Converse shoes.
Johnson also wore the same clothes when he allegedly robbed a US Bank branch inside a Safeway grocery store in Lincoln on Jan. 2 and a US Bank branch inside a Safeway grocery store on Jan. 6. Two days later, he allegedly robbed another US Bank branch inside a Safeway grocery store in Fairfield. While he was wearing the same baseball cap, this time he wore a blue and yellow Golden State Warriors sweater and gray pants, according to the affidavit.
The three bank robberies only netted Johnson $3,576.
Miller, who also works as a detective for the Vacaville Police Department, began investigating Johnson in December when a TCU internal security officer, Sergio Gutierrez, and Keri Mahaffey-Gignoux, a TCU compliance specialist, reported fraud and embezzlement incidents.
In early December, three members reported fraudulent transactions on their accounts that happened at ATMs at two TCU branches in Vacaville.
Video footage that corresponded with the dates and times of when the fraudulent transactions occurred showed that the accounts were accessed by Johnson, a financial services representative, who worked at the credit union for three years.
He allegedly created ATM cards to access the member accounts and then stole the funds from ATMs at two branches, Miller said in his affidavit. Johnson took cash advances from a credit card belonging to the accounts, and he also siphoned cash from savings or checking accounts. This occurred over a span of about 16 transactions from September to December, Miller said.
One of the member victims identified Johnson from a surveillance photo that showed him withdrawing funds from the member’s account without authorization.
On January 8, Gutierrez, the TCU security officer, identified Johnson from surveillance photos as the suspect in three of the four bank robberies.
Johnson, who left his TCU job on Nov. 28, was not fired, Miller said.
Embezzlement charges have not been filed against Johnson in federal court.
