Defendant Allegedly Embezzled More Than $2.7 Million from Employer

DALLAS—A federal grand jury in Dallas has returned an indictment against Ellis County resident Tracey Buckley, 44, charging her with one count of embezzlement of funds by a bank officer, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Buckley was arrested by FBI agents yesterday at her home in Palmer, Texas and appeared later in the day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma C. Ramirez and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Judge Ramirez released her on a personal recognizance bond; a trial date has not been set.

According to the indictment, between September 2008 and September 2010, while she was a bank officer with the Bank of New York Mellon, Buckley fraudulently initiated 40 wire transfers of approximately $2,719,674 from internal Bank of New York Mellon accounts to her own personal bank account at JP Morgan Chase.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, Buckley faces a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. She could also be ordered to pay restitution. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation which would require Buckley, if convicted, to forfeit several vehicles, real estate in Palmer and Ennis, Texas, and real estate in Custer, Montana.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Fahey is in charge of the prosecution.

AMARILLO, TX—Megan Elaine Hahn, 23, of Amarillo, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to 12 months and one day in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. In addition, Judge Robinson ordered that Hahn pay $93,255 in restitution. Hahn pleaded guilty in October to one count of theft by a bank employee. Judge Robinson ordered that Hahn surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on January 11, 2011, to begin serving her sentence.

Hahn is a former teller at FirstBank Southwest. She admitted that beginning in 2008 until mid-May 2010, she stole money from her cash drawer. She concealed her thefts by manipulating the balance of her teller drawer on her computer and by falsifying cash in and cash out tickets. On May 18, 2010, after she saw auditors arrive at the bank, Hahn went to the bank managers and admitted her theft. She obtained approximately $93,000 from the bank over a two-year period.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Drake of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Amarillo.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former bank officer at US Bank in Columbia, Mo., has been sentenced in federal court for embezzling bank funds and must pay more than $1 million in restitution.

Timothy Earl Ferguson, 48, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, to three years and five months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Ferguson to pay $1,053,684 in restitution, which includes the conduct to which Ferguson admitted guilty in his plea agreement as well as additional relevant conduct.

On Feb. 23, 2010, Ferguson pleaded guilty to embezzling bank funds. Ferguson admitted that, while he was an officer with US Bank in 2002 and 2003, he issued a series of fraudulent loans to three individuals that totaled $660,400. Ferguson also admitted that he embezzled $216,974 from the proceeds of those loans, which he deposited into his and/or his wife’s accounts at Edward Jones.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Miller. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT A. NIXON, 48, of Maynard Road, East Haven, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 55 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling more than $1 million from the former Castle Bank and Trust, now Naugatuck Savings Bank. On August 6, 2010, NIXON pleaded guilty to one count of theft, embezzlement, or misapplication by a bank officer or employee, and one count of income tax evasion.
According to court documents and statements made in court, NIXON was employed as the vice president of Operations of Castle Bank and Trust (“Castle”) in Middletown. Between 2000 and 2008, NIXON made or caused other bank personnel to make computer entries that transferred funds from Castle’s general account into a friend’s personal savings and checking accounts at the bank. NIXON then withdrew cash from his friend’s account and directed his friend to withdraw cash from his friend’s account and provide that cash to the defendant. NIXON also directed his friend to transfer funds by check from the Castle account to accounts that his friend held at other banks, and then directed his friend to withdraw cash from the accounts (by either checks made payable to “cash” or ATM withdrawals) and provide the cash to NIXON.
The total amount of money embezzled through this scheme was $1,039,227.34.
In order to hide his theft, NIXON used his position to cause false entries to be made in Castle’s general account and “reprocess” official Castle bank checks that had already been cashed by the respective payees and debited by Castle, which caused an additional debit to appear in the general account.
NIXON used the proceeds of his theft to make mortgage payments, personal credit card payments, car payments, home improvements, and also to gamble.
The fraud was discovered after NIXON left the employment of the bank in August 2009, and after the parent company of Naugatuck Savings Bank had acquired Castle.
NIXON also failed to pay federal taxes on the funds that he embezzled. For the 2002 through 2008 tax years, this resulted in an underpayment of $268,784 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Today, Judge Arterton ordered NIXON to pay a total of approximately $1.2 million in restitution to Naugatuck Savings Bank and its insurer, which includes costs the bank incurred while investigating the fraud. NIXON also must pay full restitution to the IRS, plus applicable interest and penalties.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David E. Novick and Michael J. Gustafson.